Now we cut to the final scene where Will helps Jack escape execution, and later in the chapter we cut to a scene that wasn't in the film, where Liz sits at her bedroom window reflecting on the events of that escape scene.

"I should have told you every day since the moment I met you. I love you."

Those were the words Elizabeth had been waiting to hear for the last eight years. Now that she was finally hearing them, she didn't know what to do. She felt as if she were in a dream, the kind where something isn't right, but you can't exactly put your finger on what it is. Her stomach was twisting itself in such knots that she thought she might be sick. Odd, that nausea was the feeling which would come to her when Will professed his love. She had expected it to be more of a happy, heart-fluttering experience. But there wasn't time to think of all that right now. Will had turned, was pushing his way through the crowd, and was going to attempt a rescue!

Elizabeth knew James would be sure to stop him, and that she had to distract him somehow. But upholding the law was James's chief interest, and it would take something tremendous to keep him from noticing that Will was breaking it right about now. The only thing she could think of that he loved more than duty was - herself. If something were to happen to her, she knew he would drop everything else just to wait on her. She thought of the time she fell over the wall after he proposed, and how she had later been told that he was about to dive down the hundred feet after her. Then she knew what she could do.

"I can't breathe," she said, and let herself fall backwards. She watched in satisfaction as her father and the commodore turned to her instantly. It was a nice feeling, knowing that she was the most important thing in his world. But she could only afford this a passing thought, as gasps were coming from the crowd, telling her that Jack's fate had been sealed one way or the other. So afraid for his fate was she that she sat bolt upright, desperate to see what had happened. She had come to appreciate him a little more after the events of the battle at Isla de Muerta.

And she saw, with joy, that he was alive. But now that her ruse was dropped, James's attention was back on him and Will. He began shouting orders to his soldiers to apprehend them, and Elizabeth knew that he would not let them get away with this. As she watched the men fighting, she felt oddly conflicted. She didn't know what she would do if Jack and Will were to die, but neither did she want to see James suffer so public a defeat. He would be embarrassed if he were outdone by two common pirates. But she didn't have to worry much longer, as Norrington had soon cornered them, and stepped forward to address Will.

"I thought we might have to endure some manner of ill-conceived escape attempt but not from you."

Here her father started to speak, but she didn't hear what he was saying. She was too busy trying to resolve her mixed feelings. She wanted James to win, but she also wanted the two pirates to live. Well, she concluded, James had his victory, so that part was taken care of. But Jack and Will hadn't yet been assured of their lives. The only way James wouldn't hurt them would be if she were standing in the way. She was the only one who could help them now.

As she directed her conciousness back to the conversation at hand, she heard Norrington say "You forget your place, Turner."

"It's right here," Will said. "Between you and Jack."

"As is mine," Elizabeth said, and again using herself as a buffer between the two men in her life, she stepped forward to join Will, and took his hand in hers. But after years of being forbidden to show any feelings for him, she still felt as if she were doing something wrong.

"This is where your heart truly lies, then?" James asked her, his face again sad and questioning, just like it had been when she first said she would marry him. Elizabeth looked at him in despair. She knew she wanted Will, but she felt awful about what she had done to James. She had given him hope, going so far as to agree to marry him, but then she had yanked it all away.

But she deserved to be with the person she loved, right? So she answered "It is," but still couldn't quite make herself feel certain it was what she wanted to say. Instead, she found herself continuing to focus on the pain she was putting her friend through. What would he say to her now, after she had treated him so cruelly?

He turned his gaze from her to Will, and pulled out his sword. Elizabeth's eyes widened in panic. Surely he wouldn't challenge Will! That wasn't like him at all - steady, quiet, dependable James.

"This is a beautiful sword," he said, holding the weapon out in front of him. "I would expect the man who made it to show the same care in every aspect of his life."

Elizabeth sighed in relief, and Will grinned, understanding that the commodore was giving his blessing to a union between him and Elizabeth...

...Sitting at the window of her room, Elizabeth smiled fondly upon remembering that exchange. It was so like James to do that. To surprise people with his humanity when all they expected was militaristic, unfeeling coldness. He was a fine man and a good friend, and she was sorry to have put him through so much all for the sake of her affection for Will.

"Wait a minute," she thought. "The man I've waited eight years for just told me he loves me. Shouldn't I be ecstatic? Shouldn't he be the center of my every waking thought?"

As she pondered this, she slowly came to see to see that he hadn't been the focus of her thoughts for some time now. Back when the Black Pearl adventure started, when she was kidnapped by the pirates, who had she hoped to come and rescue her? Not Will, but James. Who had she been looking forward to a grand reunion with? Her father and ...James. And even after Will had saved her, she had been miserable that it hadn't been the commodore rescuing her. In the battle between the Interceptor and the Pearl, who had she looked to to see her through? Her thoughts had only been on James, even though Will was right beside her. When she accepted Norrington's proposal, she hadn't felt shackled and trapped like she had expected she would. Instead, she had been almost relieved she was marrying him. And just before the final battle with the pirates, she had been so concerned for Norrington's safety that she had forgotten to even think about Will.

As these scenes flashed through her mind, they illuminated a startling truth. The man she loved was at the center of her thoughts. That was why she had felt so off when Will told her he loved her, and why it had felt so nice when she understood that she was the most important thing in James's world. It was why she felt so wrong when she took Will's hand in hers, and was why she couldn't, with certainty, state that her heart was with Will.

Because it wasn't with Will. It was with James.

Somehow, this realization didn't shock her as much as she thought. Surprised her, yes, but somehow, in the back of her mind, she had always known that she didn't really love Will. She had forced herself to believe that she did, for it seemed only logical to her that spirited young girl would love such a young, wild, handsome man. But she had done some growing up during her Black Pearl experience, and now she could see past the lie she had told herself for so many years, past the fairy-tale conventions of her childhood.

She looked out of her window, and saw the military fort settled on the edge of town. It sat as a barrier between the sea and Port Royale, protecting the town from danger, assisting it in its times of need, always being there when the people needed help or guidance. Just like the Commodore James Norrington had always been there for Elizabeth. He had always been there, as her mentor, her guardian, her teacher, and her friend. And now she hoped to call him something infinitely more dear.

With this thought, Elizabeth stood up from her seat, and strode towards her bedroom door. There were two people she needed to see, and two conversations she needed to have. One would bring joy, and one would bring pain, but she was determined to get through them both as best as she could. Because she knew now where her heart truly lay, and she knew what she had to do.

Fin

So there you have it. Did you like how I incorporated what you said in your reviews into Elizabeth's thought processes? I love when I can do that. Tell me what you think.