Disclaimer: None of it's mine okay! I don't own anything! Not Captain Jack, or Elizabeth or The Black Pearl. I don't even own the damn undead monkey! Leave me alone!

Author's Note: I believe this chapter is a good bit longer than my previous ones if that makes anyone feel better.

Had Elizabeth been looking at the captain in that moment she would have seen him soften immediately, staring at her in concern bordering on fear. He knelt in front of her, hesitantly reaching for the hand covering her face. Moving it, he slowly stroked the tears from her face.

"Alright Lizzie. It's alright. Dry your tears, luv. 'S not as though I didn't know what you were doing."

Those words took a moment to register in Elizabeth's mind, 'He knew? He couldn't have known. He would have stopped me.'

She looked up at him, her tears tapering off in her confusion.

"You knew? You knew what I was going to do when I...kissed you?" The words caught in her throat and Elizabeth had to make a conscious effort to push away the memories that came with them.

"Course I did, luv."

"They why did you let me?" If he had known why hadn't he stopped her?

"Well, I couldn't very well leave The Pearl behind to fight off that beastie all by her onesie, could I? Maybe I just wanted a kiss before my heroic and not so final death."

'He was planning to stay. He was going to sacrifice himself for us.' Elizabeth didn't know if that realization made her feel more or less guilty and she outright refused to reflect on how it made her feel about Jack.

"Besides, you seemed so determined. Who am I to turn down a lady if she wants a little taste of ole Captain Sparrow?"

She hit him, laughing abruptly, "Just when I was beginning to think you were honerable. You are a complete scoundrel Jack!"

'Jack...Jack oh God.' His name had popped out unintentionally and it was too late to take it back. The brief levity of the situation disappeared instantly as emotion overwhelmed her. Every feeling she'd been trying to hide from came rushing to the surface. The onslaught of memories and emotions was so sudden and intense that Elizabeth fear she would drown in them. She gasped desperately, as her heart clenched painfully in her chest in sudden realization.

'I nearly lost him! No, I did lose him. But he's here! I found him again! I found him...Jack.'

Elizabeth stared at him in awe, unable to rationalize that she'd nearly lost him forever. By her own actions. The hand that had stayed on his shoulder after the playful slap moved of its own volition to his face. She touched his hair, his cheeks, his nose with an expression of wonder. She ran her fingers across his lips, vividly remembering how they felt beneath her own. Jack's eyes followed her fingers to his lips her heart clenched again at his silly antics.

"Jack..." Her eyes slid shut briefly, relishing the taste of his name on her tongue and she felt the sting of her tears behind the closed lids. "Oh God...Jack. Jack! I was so afraid I'd never find you. I wanted to tell you that I lied. I was sorry, Jack! I'm so sorry!"

Her other arm came up suddenly and then she was hugging him, clinging to him with all the strength she had. She pulled him as close to her as she could, needing to feel to solidness of his body against hers to assure herself that he was really there. Jack, seeming very confused, hesitated before putting his arms around her. He started to sit back but immediately winced, reaching down to pull his sword and pistol from his belt before attempting it again. He leaned against the wall of the cabin, pulling Elizabeth so that she was on his lap, one leg on either side of him.

Jack rocked her slowly, awkwardly rubbing slow circles on her back as she cried again, though this time it was from grief instead of guilt. She was still mumbling how sorry she was against his neck, not noticing that he shivered slightly with the action.

"'S alright 'Lizabeth. Knew you were sorry. Don't worry, luv, you found me," he mumbled platitudes into her hair, slowing her tears somewhat, "I'm right here and fit as a fiddle I am, though I'm a little soberer than I'd like. Don't suppose there's some rum lyin' around is there?"

Elizabeth laughed, a few more tears squeezing out with the action. It seemed, even death could not separate Captain Jack Sparrow from his rum. She leaned back enough to see his face. He seemed relieved that she was no longer crying.

'Poor Jack. He obviously doesn't have much experience with weepy females' She sniffled and promptly bursting into giggles when Jack's eyes widened with panic.

"It's alright Jack. I'm not going to cry again," She felt more than heard him sigh with relief and grinned in amusement.

"Thank the Gods. An' they say I'm crazy. I tell ya, woman, I've never seen a person jump from one mood to another as quickly as you do."

"It's called being a woman Jack. You'd know that if you spent more than an evening with one. And to answer your question, yes, there is rum. I hid a few bottles just for you. They're in the crate under your desk."

Jack's eyes flickered back and forth between her face and the desk and she realized he couldn't get up without moving her.

'He's probably still scared I'll burst into tears again if he moves,' she thought with a smile.

As she started to rise she noticed for the first time exactly that she was basically straddling his lap. Blushing a deep red again for the thoughts running through her mind, she quick stood and moved away from Jack. Jack got to his feet more slowly than she had, a smirk on his face that told her he knew exactly what she'd been thinking of. He didn't comment on it, though. He merely strolled to his desk and grabbed the rum from it's hiding place. With a sigh of extreme satisfaction he pulled the cork and took a long swig, smacking his lips. Elizabeth laughed lightly and he spun around to look at her before diving under his desk again and emerging with a second bottle, which he tossed to her. She caught it out of instinct and looked at him curiously.

Jack bowed to her, "For the lady who saved me life."

She raised an eyebrow, "I'm not sure you can really count that since I'm the one who left you in a position to die in the first place."

"Right then. For the lady who saved me rum then."

"Now that I will drink to. It's bloody difficult to hide rum from pirates. Your crew seems to have unnatural abilities when it comes to locating extra bottles."

"It's called bein' a pirate, luv," he turned her earlier comments back around on her, "Ya'd know that if ya spent...well I suppose ya have spent quite a bit a time with the likes of us now haven't ya? Ahh hell just drink yer damn rum and stop yer bloody smirkin'. Ya look like bloody Norrington."

As a proper young lady, Elizabeth really should turn down the offer but it seemed Jack had a bad influence on her and the 'vile' drink had grown on her considerably in the past few months. Besides she hadn't behaved as a 'proper young lady' in some time now. With that justification, she yanked the cork out and saluted Jack with the bottle before taking a gulp herself. The alcohol burned a path down her throat and into her stomach, pooling warmly and easing the way for the next gulp.

"Drink up me hearties, yo ho," Jack sang tunelessly, flopping back into the chair at his desk again.

Elizabeth laughed and took another gulp before realizing how long they'd been in his cabin together. She knew the crew would be wanting to see their Captain and heaven only knew what Will was thinking.

"Jack you really should go out and see the crew. They've were lost without you, you know."

Jack shrugged, "They've lived without me for...how long have I been gone now?"

"Three months," she replied quietly.

She shivered a bit at the memory and took another swig of the spicy rum. Gibbs was right when he said that the world wasn't as bright a place without Captain Jack Sparrow.

"Three months? Right then. They've lived without me for three months. They can survive a bit longer. Besides, what would they think of me if I abandoned a lovely and increasingly drunk lady such as yourself to go swap words with my mangy crew?"

"Jack!" Elizabeth threw her cork at him but it seemed he was right about the 'increasingly drunk' part because she missed him completely. She stumbled, slightly off balance from the throw, and looked at the bottle. No matter how much she liked the drink apparently she still had no tolerance for it. Glancing around, she realized the only place to sit besides the chair the Captain was, once again occupying, was the bed. Improper as it might be, standing was proving a bit too dangerous and the bed was much better than the floor so to the bed she went. On her way she realized that she was swaying slightly, from the combination of the movement of the ship and the rum.

'Oh good Lord I'm even starting to walk like him.'

"Only speakin' the truth, luv."

"Yes, but I'm not a 'lady' remember? I'm a pirate," she said, reminding him of his last word to her before she'd left him on The Pearl.

Without looking at him, she felt his eyes running over her body, "Aye luv. You are that. The most bewitchin' pirate I ever saw."

TBC...Things are going to get very interesting around here very soon. :evil grin: If you like let me know! Hell, even if you don't like let me know!