Elizabeth instinctively moved towards Will as Captain Barbossa descended the stairs of Tia Dalma's strange tree house, placing her hand in his. Her simple action was met with no comforting squeeze of the hand or other small gesture of love to let her know he would protect her from her former tormentor and Jack's sworn enemy. Instead, her beloved withdrew his hand without looking at her, placing it on his scabbard to steady it as he drew his sword from it and pointed it right at Barbossa's heart.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Will demanded, his voice a low, threatening growl as he voiced the thought the remainder of the Black Pearl's crew was thinking as they crowded around him.
"I, young Master Turner, have returned from the ends of the Earth, andby the sounds of it, that is exactly where you are fixing to go," Barbossa replied in his same old manner.
"I don't trust you," Will returned, standing his ground. "You led the mutiny against Jack. Why would you help us bring him back?"
"One reason and one reason only, my boy: the Black Pearl. You see, now that I have returned from the end of the earth, I've been missin' my ship—"
"Jack's ship," Will snarled, standing up a little straighter. "The Black Pearl is Jack's ship."
"Well there I'll be differing in opinion from you, boy," Barbossa said. "As I was saying before I was interrupted, my thoughts have been with the Black Pearl of late, sentimental value, don't you know. So here are me terms: I will take you to the end of the earth to bring back your beloved Jack Sparrow—"
"Captain!" Gibbs, Will, Elizabeth, Pintel and Ragetti said sharply in one breath.
"Yes, yes, Captain Jack Sparrow. I will take you to retrieve your Captain, in return for my ship back."
Will looked as though he wanted to refuse, but Gibbs put his large, meaty hand on the young man's shoulder and said, "It's only a ship, lad. It be a small price to pay to have Jack back."
Will slowly nodded his head, sheathed his sword, and turned and walked out of the tree house. Elizabeth attempted to follow him but Tia Dalma stopped her.
"I wouldn't be walkin' after him right now, young woman. He need to be alone with the thoughts that plague him. Come, I put you all up for the night; tomorrow you begin your journey. Follow me."
Elizabeth reluctantly followed the strange island woman, feeling a pang that her fiancée would rather be by himself than speak with her.
Will did notreturn until far into the night, and Elizabeth could not help waiting up for him. Whenshe heard the familiarsound of his heavy bootstramping up the old wooden steps she went to the archway of her room and caught his arm in her thin, white hand to prevent him from going any farther.
"Will I wish to speak with you—" she began, but before she could proceed any further, he cut her off.
"I am regrettably very busy, Miss Swann, and have not the time to stand about talking, so if you will please excuse me…" Will said, refusing to meet her eye and trying to move away.
"No, I will not!" Elizabeth exclaimed angrily. "Not until you tell me why you are avoiding me and 'Miss Swann'-ing me all of the sudden! I have no idea what could possibly have gotten into you!"
"No idea what has gotten into me? Not one?" he demanded with the air of a man trying to get his anger under control and failing dismally as he backed Elizabeth into the bedroom.
"No, I don't! I have no idea why my fiancée is suddenly treating me like a distant acquaintance, but I would dearly love to find out!"
"Fiancée! That's rich, for you to be telling me how one should treat their fiancée! As far as I know, I am not the one who first betrayed their fiancée and then lied about it!"
"What are you talking about!" Elizabeth demanded, holding back the tears which were only too handy these days.
"What am I talking about? What am I talking about!" he shouted, looking slightly deranged with hurt and anger. "You kissed Jack! You kissed him, Elizabeth!"
Elizabeth staggered back as if he had struck her.
"You…you…you saw that?" she stammered.
"Yes, I did, though I have no doubt that I was not supposed to," he snapped back, finding it easier to be angry than hurt. "Imagine my feelings when I saw my fiancée, the woman I have loved since I was a thirteen-year-old boy, locked in a clandestine kiss with Captain Jack Sparrow!"
Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, attempted to explain the situation, but somehow her courage failed her.
What if I tell him and he hates me for killing Jack, she thought with panic.
"You know, why couldn't you have just saved me the torment of mind and rammed a knife into my heart instead?" he demanded sarcastically, interrupting her thoughts.
Elizabeth winced as his harsh words hit her. She had never heard Will speak to her as he did know, and deep down in her heart, she could not blame him. She would feel exactly as he did if she had seen him kiss another woman.
If I do not tell him the truth, he will hate me forever for betraying him, and I would rather he hate me for killing Jack than that.
"Oh, God, Will," she began as the tears welled in her eyes spilled over. "You have no idea how sorry I am for what I have done and have every reason to hate me, only I want you to hate me for the right reason."
Confusion was added to the anger and hurt apparent in Will's expression, only he said nothing, waiting for her to continue.
"I kissed Jack in order to trick him into backing against the mast so I could chain him to it and he couldn't get away. I knew the kraken was after him and that the only way the rest of us could get away would be if he stayed behind. I could think of no other way. You have no idea how sorry I am for what I have done and how I did it, and I understand if—if you hate me…." she trailed off, her gaze dropping to her wet boots, swiping surreptitiously at her wet face with the dirty sleeve of her jacket.
"Elizabeth," Will said softly as he lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes, hoping to see the return of the feelings her felt for her in them.
"Please forgive me," Elizabeth pleaded softly before she could stop herself, tears gushing down her grimy cheeks. She was not to proud tobeg forpardon from the man she loved."You have no idea how much I love you. I do not think I could survive if you were to leave me."
"So the kiss…you swear it meant nothing?" he asked hesitatingly.
"William Turner, you are the only man I ever want to kiss and you should know that," she said, trying to smile through her tears. She decided to punctuate her statement by standing on the tips of her toes to press her soft lips against his chapped ones.
"But…you don't hate me?" she demanded, pulling away from him abruptly. "I—I killed Jack…he's dead and it is all my fault…"
"The way I see it," Will said slowly, "Is that if Jack had come with us, the kraken would have eaten us all and then we would all be stuck at the end of the earth with no one to save us. At least this way, we are alive to save Jack."
"And after we have brought Jack back and I have freed my father from Davy Jones, I intend to marry you, Elizabeth Swann," Will said softly. "That is, if you'll still have me."
"There is nothing I want more," Elizabeth breathed softly, tears of happiness filling her eyes once again.
