Title: Shanghai

Author: Supplanting Promise

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

Finding Jack

Elizabeth's POV

Jack picked up the gun that he had been standing on and took aim at one of the barrels that was falling. With precise timing and luck the ship didn't lurch, Jack hit the barrel and it exploded and caught the others in its explosion. Many of the Kraken's tentacles were blown off and others badly burned, but it was not enough to stop it.

A small group of us were left alive and the men began to load the row boat with a few supplies and then themselves. I spotted Jack and walked over to him.

"Thank you Jack." I said looking at him.

"We're not free yet luv."

"You came back. I always knew you were a good man." I say walking to within inches of him. He stares down at me almost as if expecting me to say something else; but never, I think, did he expect me to kiss him.

I leaned into him and held the lapels of his jacket, quickly pushing him back until his back hit the mast. I trailed my fingers down his arm and as I reach his hand, I silently grab a manacle. Too distracted by my lips, Jack doesn't notice anything until he hears the click of the manacle locking. He pulls away from me and smiles.

"It's after you not the ship; it's not us. This is the only way don't you see." I leans in as if to kiss him again but stop myself. "I'm not sorry."

Jack leans in and whispers, "Pirate." I say nothing and run to the row boat. As I sit down Will speaks up.

"Where's Jack?" He asks smugly.

"He's elected to stay behind to give us a chance." Everyone looks slightly surprised and looks towards the Pearl before rowing away.

At Tia Dalma's House

As we rowed through the swamp people were standing in the water holding candles leading to Tia Dalma's house. Our small group somberly made our way into the house and waited as Tia Dalma served each of us a cup of rum.

"To Jack." Gibbs offered.

"He was a good man." I say, raising my cup in tribute to the late Captain.

"Elizabeth if anything could be done to bring him back," He tries but I don't really hear him. "Elizabeth . . ."

"Would you do it? Hmm? Well would you? Hmm? What would any of you be willin' to do? Hmm? Would you sail to the end of the eart and land to fetch back Jack and him precious Pearl?" She looks around the room, making eye contact with each person.

"Aye." Gibbs was the first to answer.

"Aye." Pintel and Ragetti agree.

"Aye." Cotton's parrot squawks. Both Will and I nod our heads.

"But how?" Will asks.

"Isla de Alma, at da World End. You will need to sail der and on de way you will find Jack Sparra. But this island be surrounded by treach'rous waters. To be makin' it there you will be needin' a captain who knows those waters." Tia Dalma said, looking up the stairs.

"So tell me, what has become of my ship?" Barbossa asked taking a bite from his apple.

Everyone was stunned to silence. Our small crew exchanged looks but still no one believed.

"Captain Barbossa will be taken ye to Isla de Alma. I have procured a ship for ye to use on the condition that when you find Jack you name 'im captain."

"But how will we find the island? If it is at the End of the Earth then it's quite possible that isn't on a map." Gibbs said finally finding his voice.

"Da girl knows." Tia Dalma said turning to me. "Doncha?"

"Jack's compass."

"Aye, Jack's compass." Tia Dalma said. "Rest here tonight, tomorrow your journey can begin."

It was late and seeing as the ship Tia Dalma had procured wouldn't be there until tomorrow the small crew spent the night at Tia Dalma's. I slept in a hammock in the corner of the room while the men slept on the floor around me.

I laid awake for many hours thinking. I was worried what the crew would think if or when Jack told them that he had not elected to stay behind. I worried what Will would think when he found out that I had kissed Jack, and if he would forgive me. First and foremost though I was worried about Jack. As I was worrying about these many matters I never heard one of the men get up until he was standing right over me.

"I need some air." Will said and then he motioned for me to stand and he led me outside.

"What are you doing awake?"

"I could ask you the same."

"Thinking."

"About Jack?" He said contemptuously.

"What has you in such a foul mood?" I asked and then it hit me, the way he had said Jack. "You saw me kiss him." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes." An accusation, more than an answer.

"Will . . ."

"I don't want to know anything other than the answer to this one question. Do you want him?"

"No." I said, tears pouring down my face. "Will I love you. You are the only man I want, the only man I want to marry."

"But you love him."

"No, I love what he represents; Jack is freedom."

"And what am I; a cage?" He asked, stepping towards me.

"No, I just - - I don't know. I love you, I chose you; can't that just be enough?"

"I wasn't aware there was a competition." Will said turning away from me and leaning against the railing.

"Will . . ." I said reaching out to comfort him.

"Perhaps Davy Jones has the right idea." He said, and I withdrew my hand. "I'm going to bed." He said and walked back into the small house. I stood there for some time looking out into the murky water.

"Never mind what da boy says, he'll forgive you. Go to sleep and give him time." Tia Dalma said ushering me back inside. I laid back in my hammock and was soon asleep.

The Next Morning

Tia Dalma woke the crew early and got us on our way.

"The ship is called Black Widow. Once you find Jack name him captain and continue on to Isla de Alma. That is where you will find The Pearl. Allow Jack the choice of his ship and den allow him to choose the cap'n of da second ship. Any of ye who oppose him will not like da consequences." She warned before sending us on our way.

Upon reaching the ship the man that had been acting as captain introduced himself and the rest of the crew. Barbossa immediately began giving orders and taking his role as captain.

"Mister Smith, I will be taking over as captain of this ship. Mister Turner here is First Mate and Miss Swann will be allowed the Quarter Master's bunk. Any man that does not follow my orders to the letter will get off this ship and I will not wait for the next port." He said and then made his way up to the helm.

"Miss Swann what be our headin'?" I took out the compass and opened it. I watched as the needle spun around and around and the finally stopped.

"South by southwest." I said pocketing the compass again. I walked below deck and found the Quarter Master's bunk and entered it. I laid on the cot and fell asleep before even thinking about it.

Tia Dalma was right; within the week Will was talking to me again. I took things slow, careful not to push him to forgive me and I never brought up Jack I always let someone else do it. Soon Will was back to his old self except that he seemed a little more guarded when dealing with the other crew members that had not been on The Pearl; and to be honest all of us were more guarded.

We sailed for four more weeks before making port at Great Karroo. We docked for three days and all three nights the men stayed onshore. Will and I volunteered to stay on the ship and we took that time to reconnect. The first night we played cards and talked about the stars and constellations. It was fun and we stayed up until the night had begun to turn to day.

We slept in the next morning and that afternoon Will took me into the small English colony in Great Karroo. I shopped around and bought some more soap, (seeing as how that was in short supply on the ship) and some smaller shirts and trousers. Will and I had dinner at a tavern not far from the docks. We walked back to the ship after dusk and waited patiently for Mr. Gibbs to pick us up in the row boat. He arrived within a few minutes and took us back to the ship and as we got off, everyone else was getting on. Will went into his cabin to grab a couple of blankets and laid them on the deck by the helm. We sat down and I began dealing out the cards. Will poured us each a generous amount of some wine that he had found in the colony and our second night began.

We drank and played cards well into the night. I laid down my second Royal Flush of the night and he threw himself towards me yelling cheater, laughing good heartily. As I fell to the ground some cards fell from my boot cuff.

"You are a cheater!"

"No I'm a pirate." I said looking up into his eyes, laughing merrily.

He smiled and then kissed me. He gently pushed me back onto the pallet of blankets. Will left a trail of kisses from my mouth down my neck, pausing to nip gently at my collar bone.

Will moved back to my lips, kissing me intensely again. His fingers moved to the hem of my shirt up pulled it up and over my head. He massaged my breasts with his hands while I ran my hands over his chest and pulled his shirt and vest off in one movement.

Will moved his hand back up to my neck and brought my lips crashing down on his again. He sucked and nipped at my lower lip and then moved to my ear, he sucked gently at the lobe as my hands came to rest at the top of his trousers. I bit at his throat and he groaned in my ear. Will's hand went to my under garments and pulled lightly. I lifted my hips to allow the garment to slide down my hips and off my body.

Will sat back to pull his pants off and then resumed his assault on my lips. He kissed me fervently as he entered me. He did so gently and moved in and out slowly.

"Faster." I breathed heavily.

Will massaged my breasts as he quickened our rhythm. I groaned loudly and he kissed my mouth, trying to smother my increasingly loud moans. I tentatively moved against Will but found that when I did he would pause as if something was wrong. I wrapped my legs around his waist to bring him closer.

Soon I was moaning and Will tried to stifle my moans. He slid his hands behind my head and pulled my lips down to his. He nibbled my bottom lip and ran his hand down to my lower back to pull me flush against him. I groaned deeply and Will allowed himself to let go and come inside me; as I climaxed I called Jack's name.

Will stopped above me as I realized what I had said. A look of pure hurt and hatred came across his face. Before I could speak he was up and pulling his trousers on.

"Wi- -" I grabbed my shirt and pulled it over my head.

"Don't say another word." He grabbed his shirt and walked into the first mate's cabin, slamming the door behind him. I quickly pulled my trousers on and followed Will to the cabin, I tried to open the door but it was locked. I pounded on the door until I heard him move inside.

"Will let me explain." He wrenched the door open, fury written on his face.

"Explain what Elizabeth? That while you sleep with me for the rest of your life you will be thinking of Jack. Explain that you let me think I would be the first man to have you and the last but that tonight proved otherwise. No Elizabeth I will not be the man you settle for."

"But Will I L- -"

"Don't say it. Never again tell me that you love me." He slammed the door in my face. Not wanting to stay on the ship by myself I lowered the small row boat and took myself to shore.

As I was rowing to shore I noticed something floating in the water. I began to row towards the object when I realized that it was a person. Slowing down I was able to stop next to the body and flip it over with my oar. I raised my lantern to look at the face and instantly recognized Jack. Quickly I grabbed him under the arms and managed to get him in the small row boat, but only just barely keeping the boat from tipping over.

I laid my head on his chest to find that his heart was still beating and that his breathing was even and stable. I looked back to the ship and then to shore and decided that I was closer to the shore than I was to the ship. I rowed as fast as I could to shore and pulled the boat up until it was a good distance form the water. I ran to the small town and to the first building that I saw. It was a small home and I prayed to God that there was someone there who could help me bring Jack into town.

I knocked on the door and heard some people moving inside. A woman answered the door and I saw a young man about 20 standing in the back.

"Ma'am my name is Elizabeth Swann and I found a man floating in the water, one of my crew and I need help bringing him to town." The woman was at first stunned by my appearance, but as soon as I was done talking she called the man over.

"This is my son, Joseph, he can help you take the man to the inn." I thanked her and ran with Joseph back to the small row boat.

Joseph hoisted Jack over his shoulder and started back to the town. I followed him back to the town and to a small inn. I asked the inn-keeper for a room and paid him as Joseph took Jack to the room. I entered the room and thanked Joseph for all his help and tried to pay him, but he refused. He left the room and I sat on the edge of the bed.

Jack's clothes were still very wet and I knew that he would not get warm with those clothes still on him. I removed his shirt and boots first and then tried, as modestly as possible, to pull his trousers off. I eventually decided to undo the fastenings and then pulled the blanket up to his waist and then pull on the legs from the end of the bed. I laid the clothes out on the floor and sat in a chair by the window to rest.

As I was starting to drift to sleep I heard Jack move and then he started shouting incoherently. I ran to his side and tried desperately to keep him from thrashing around. None of my attempts worked so I started talking to him. I murmured his name and ran my hand over his forehead like my mother would for me. I told him to sleep and soon he was still again. I started to move back to my seat but he began to thrash around again. Again I was by his side, calming him. I laid next to him on the bed and laid my head on his chest. He soon was breathing regularly and I drifted to sleep.

Later That Night

I woke up later that night, about half an hour from dawn, to Jack cursing as he stumbled around the room. I sat up and watched as he went from the bed to the door trying to open it.

"Jack!" I called as I heard the door creak open. He turned to look at me in surprise.

"Lizzie?" His voice full of confusion. I got out of bed and tossed his trousers to him. He pulled them on and then I gave him his shirt. As he was pulling that on I lit a small lamp that was on the bedside table.

"Jack how do you feel?" I asked pulling him back towards the bed to sit down.

"Sober; something I never wished to experience." He said looking around the room. "Where's the rum?"

"There is no rum. Jack where have you been?"

"In a Kraken." He said simply, his smirk returning. "But I think you knew that." I had the decency to blush at his statement.

"Surely you haven't been in the Kraken for over a month." I said incredulously.

"No, only for a few minutes, then I was spit up on an island where Davy Jones found me. I was taken aboard the Flying Dutchman and thrown into a cell below deck. I they gave me rum and something that was supposedly edible. I drank the rum and left the plate alone; something was in the rum. I fell into a deep sleep and lost all track of time. In this sleep I had . . . dreams, monstrous nightmares. At one point I woke up and we were engaged in a battle. A cannon came through, knocking the door off the cell. I got out and jumped over board. I grabbed onto a piece of wood. I floated for God knows how long before exhaustion and that drug took over. That's the last thing I remember."

It was the strangest thing to listen to him talk entirely sober. He was coherent and didn't wave his hands around like he was fending off insects.

"I'll go get you some food. When you're done eating we'll go back to the ship."

I left the room and found the inn-keeper no where so I let myself into the kitchen to fix breakfast. In the kitchen I found a pot, bread, eggs and a bottle of rum. Quickly I boiled the eggs and toasted the bread. I set everything on a tray and as I was leaving the kitchen I grabbed an orange for myself. I set the tray at the end of the bed and handed the bottle of rum directly to Jack. I sat in the chair and peeled the orange, eating it slowly.

Jack picked at the eggs and only took a few bites of his toast before taking a very large swig of the rum. He continued to take a bite here and then two or three swigs there. He ate only about a third of the food but I was happy that he was eating.

I looked at him as he ate. His skin, while still tan, lacked it's glow. His eyes looked tired and lacked the fire they had once held. He was always thin, but now his skin seemed to hang from his body. He seemed a beaten man. He took a swig and then looked around the room, as if looking for someone.

"Where's Will?" He asked suddenly.

"He's on the ship." I said sullenly. He raised his brow but said nothing more. He set the empty bottle of rum down and pulled his boots on.

I led him out of the inn and into the small town. We walked slowly through the deserted town and down to the beach. Thankfully my row boat was still there and we pushed it into the water. Jack tried to take the oars but I beat him to it.

When we reached the ship I climbed up the ladder to find that the crew was already on board. I yelled to the man closest to me to find Barbossa and Will. He walked off talking about bossy women and something that sounded like shouldn't even be on ships at all. Jack stepped on deck behind me just as the crewman returned with Barbossa.

"Jack."

"Barbossa." Then he turned to me and whispered, "What's he doing here?"

"I came te find ye and The Pearl, Captain." Jack gave him a tight lipped smile and headed for the helm.

"Lizzie, ye still have my compass." He said after trying to grab it from his belt and finding nothing. I tossed it to him and turned to the crewman who had found Barbossa.

"Where's Will?"

"In his cabin." As I was leaving to find Will I heard Jack speak.

"Get that man off my ship." After which I heard a string of cursing from Barbossa and a splash.

I knocked on the door and then let myself into the small room. Will was sitting at the small desk provided writing, when he turned to face me. He said nothing and turned his back to me. I stood quietly contemplating leaving when he spoke.

"You found Jack."

"Yes. He was in the water as I was rowing to shore."

"I suppose you'll be happy now." He said maliciously.

"Will I never meant to hurt you. I don't even know why it was his name I said."

"Perhaps it because he was the one to have you first."

He said catching me off guard. I went quiet not knowing how to answer him. I could lie and say that I had never been with a man, or I could tell him the truth, that I had slept with Jack. I didn't know which would hurt him more so I stayed silent.

"Do you deny it?"

"No." He looked away from me and I knew that I should leave, but I didn't listen to myself.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"Forgive you for breaking your word and still wearing my ring? Perhaps; but not telling me and allowing me to find out like that. Never." Tears slipped down my cheek as he said the last statement. I took his ring off my finger and placed it on the desk by the door and the fled from the room.

I ran from Will's room and straight to my own. I laid on my cot for several hours just numb to the world. I didn't know what to do. Will would have no more to do with for the rest of my life and he had every right. Jack was a pirate, who according to all, would never settle down with anyone. The sea was his life and his and only love. No respectable man in Port Royale or in London would marry me now. I am a woman on a pirate-ship with no women chaperones or my father around. Only God knows what rumors are being said about me and what my father was having to put up with. At the thought of my father I began to cry and I cried myself to sleep that night.

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