A/N: I can't stop writing this and I don't want to stop writing this. So, I'll keep writing it until I figure out whatever the hell I'm going to do with any of my other many fics. So, basically, if you read this, you're in luck. And if anyone can help me out, I would very much appreciate it. Last time I checked, a fourth movie was a possibility, all three major actors (Johnny, Orlando, Keira) willing to do it if the script was strong enough. Now, I heard from a friend that they don't want Orlando back, that Will is dead for sure. Is this true? Please tell me it's not… lol As always, I love to hear what you think about my writing. Thanks.

Harsh rays from the afternoon sun drifted into her room from the long bay windows facing the streets below, but it wasn't what woke her up, nor was it the current nightmare of the night, one in which Will had not met his match yet, but she could sense it on the horizon. No, this time it was a slow, steady knock on her bedroom door that aroused her from her sleep, and she was certainly annoyed already with whoever was on the other side of that door. Moaning softly to herself, she let her eyes flutter open slowly, letting the filtering sunlight come into view a little bit at a time before finally moving off of the bed to answer the door. There were very few people who would disturb her when she was alone in her bedroom, for fear of what she did not know, but it also meant that she knew exactly who was on the other side of the heavy oak door, and it was the last person she wanted to see in that moment: Jonathon Greene.

While he had been a friend, a confidante, a shoulder to lean on every so often the first time around, this time seemed so much different, now 10 weeks since Will had left, barely over two months into the first year. Maybe it was the fact that she was trying to harbor a secret from him at the time, her biggest secret yet and one that she wanted so desperately to confide in someone. But there was only one person she wanted to tell, and it was not Jonathon, that much she was sure of. She had been avoiding him lately, taking naps in the afternoon to "clear her mind", taking walks late at night to "have time to herself", but both of those were lies. She was sleeping in the afternoons because she wasn't sleeping at night, too busy frequenting the places she knew the crew of the Black Pearl could always be found in. She wasn't taking walks late at night, she was planning her next move, making sure that her current endeavor was fool-proof and wouldn't fall through. And she was avoiding Jonathon.

Sighing to herself, she smoothed out the fine creases in her dress and brought a hand to her hair, taking out the two pins holding it up and letting it fall down her back in golden waves. She glanced back at that iron chest one more time, as if this small part of him would be able to offer her comfort when she was feeling so alone, and then she finally opened the door, finding Jonathon just as agitated as she thought he might be. He showed his annoyance towards her as he took the lead this time, stepping into her bedroom and slamming the door behind him in an effort to make her fear his presence, but it only fueled her frustration. She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, glaring right back at him as she waited for whatever declaration he might make. Her wait wasn't long at all as he quickly began to talk, pacing the length of the room all the while. "Miss Swann, I do hope you realize what time it is. And I do hope that you know you were due to attend a meeting with the Duke's son exactly one hour ago. And I do hope that you can tell that you are not where you need to be at the moment."

Elizabeth's small hands curled into tiny fists as she moved them to her sides, taking a deep, calming breath to keep from doing anything irrational, her eyes never straying from his cold, hard gaze. His first mistake was in calling her Miss Swann, a name he knew she no longer took with the honor and esteem it once held. She was a Turner, and she would proudly bear that name any day, a thought that had recently been causing her to think of rebelling against Jonathon's orders to refrain from telling the townspeople exactly who she is. She was a grown woman who could make her own decisions in her own time, and just who was she helping by living this immense lie? She inhaled once more, hesitating just long enough to watch him start to fidget out of pure agitation before venturing into her own monologue. "Why, Jonathon, I thought you realized when I told you this morning that I was feeling ill, I meant that I was not going to meet with anyone for the day. I was resting in my own privacy in hopes of restoring my health so I can fill the position of governess that the people so willingly handed me, and you so rudely interrupted me. Are you positively sure that I am the one who has made such a dreadful mistake?"

She watched in delight as his cheeks turned a fair scarlet color, matching the fine line of his jacket's interior layer that she could just barely see. He appeared to be extremely uncomfortable for a moment before regaining his composure and staring her down to no avail once again. What she said hadn't been a lie at all, whether it was from being tired or from truly being ill, she wasn't quite sure, but she hadn't been feeling well that morning and she had told him that. His simmering anger wasn't letting him think of that as his breath came in short gasps, his teeth gritted hard as if in pain. "I will have you know, Elizabeth, that the Duke is looking to take a wife and now it seems that the opportunity has passed and your chance is forever gone because of this sudden illness."

Elizabeth's mouth opened in a small o-shape as she took in what he had said, her eyes widening in a mixture of shock, panic, and anger as she looked back at him, not sure when this change in his personality had taken affect. "Have you forgotten that I am married!? I have been made a wife by William Turner, he is my husband, and nothing you or anyone else says or does will change that!"

Before she knew what was happening, Jonathon had crossed the distance of the room and clamped a hand tightly over her mouth, moving with such force that her back hit the wall behind her, rattling the small table beside her and causing her to bite her tongue. His voice was a stern, menacing whisper as he leaned in close to her, the heat of his breath against her face making her nauseous. "Have you forgotten that you promised to keep that marriage a secret? You're not as young as you once were, Elizabeth, and people talk. If you ever had the dignity to leave this room, you would know that, but I must be your eyes and ears for you, since you have proven to be only meek and feeble on your own. To the rest of this world, you are Miss Swann, you are loveless, and there is no William Turner who is not deceased, just like his father."

Elizabeth bit the soft flesh of the palm of his weathered hand just slightly, causing him to pull it off quickly and giving her the advantage as she grabbed both of his wrists and turned him around, his cheek firmly against the wall. "Will is not dead, and neither am I. We have every right to be together now, and another decade from now, and nothing that you say will make me feel any differently about my husband. You must also remember, Jonathon, that he is a pirate, as am I, and a pirate always gets what she wants."

Holding onto his wrists for a second longer than necessary, she finally pulled her own hands away to allow him to move freely, backing away from him in case he decided to lash out again. He looked flustered, an imprint left on his cheek from the wall, and she let herself relax a little as he moved to the door, hesitating while his hand was wrapped around the brass knob. "Very well, Miss Swann. But when you find that your dear Will does not choose this lifestyle for himself because he does not belong as you or I, you may want to change your mind." His eyes flickered from her face, with it's cold, emotionless expression, to the iron chest residing on her nightstand, and as she felt herself panic for a minute before recomposing herself, she swore that she saw the tiniest snide smile on his lips.

She was left alone again as he let the door close gently behind him, as if their conversation that had lasted a mere seven minutes had set everything right in the world. She did not let her tired frame drop back down to the bed, nor did she break down into the tears she so badly wanted to cry in that moment. She had been a broken woman in these past few months, the past ten years if she was truly honest with herself, and maybe this had been a weakness in his eyes, a weakness he thought gave him an advantage over her. Maybe it had been the many tears she had shed over the past ten years, two months, two weeks, and for days, that made her seem weak in his eyes. She wasn't the same Elizabeth that she had been before, the strong, fearless captain who never held back her tongue, but she wasn't that same courageous leader before Will became a part of her life either. He had always been the one to make her feel that confident, as if she were in control of every aspect of her life, and without him, she was starting to feel like she was losing herself just as much as she was losing him.

Once she could no longer hear Jonathon's, retreating footsteps, she moved away from that same spot near her bed, letting her blonde hair fall over her shoulders as she knelt in front of the bottom drawers of her bureau. Searching through the middle drawer's interior, she did not stop until her fingertips touched a familiar expanse of worn material. She grasped it firmly and pulled it out from the depths of the drawer, feeling content when she finally was able to see its dark black color. She kept the shirt hidden from everyone, not wanting it to be washing so it no longer contained the faint scent that was the perfect mixture of the sea and Will.

She quickly pulled the string hanging down just above her waist on the back of her dress, letting the corset-like back open completely. She quickly slipped out of it as well as the many slip-dresses she wore underneath before sliding the shirt on over her shoulders and taking her time with each button, as if the shirt may perish in her hands at any moment. She put her pants on as well, feeling better even then, with the familiar fabric covering her bare skin, and then stuck one of the hair pins between her teeth as she used her hands to pull a small section of hair from each side of her face before pinning it into place to perfectly frame her face. She slid her feet into her nearest pair of plain black shoes, and glanced once more in the mirror, smoothing out the front of her shirt and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Satisfied with her appearance, she finally moved to hover next to her door, listening to whatever sounds were being made in the hallway right outside her room.

If Jonathon knew her schedule by memory, she in turn knew his own like the back of her hand. By this time in the afternoon, he would be enjoying his tea in the gardens, most afternoons with her there as well, had it not been for their latest argument. Thinking about the phrases he had said to her, the menacing glare he gave her as he held her steadfast to the wall, the way his eyes flickered just slightly to rest on the iron chest that held Will's heart, made her shiver once again, surprised by how suddenly she had learned to fear this man that she had let guide her for so long. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind of those few moments, letting her hand rest on the door a minute longer before coming to the conclusion that there was no one waiting for her on the other side, muttering under their breath about the fight that had just occurred, or trying to find the right way to tell Elizabeth she was being unreasonable, which she was sure she wasn't. Once she was finally satisfied with the notion that the corridor was empty, she slipped out of her room, closing the door gently behind her to make it seem like she was still sleeping peacefully, and then she made her way out of the mansion.

Everything seemed so clear to her now as she walked briskly in the direction of the harbor and the many attractions that lay in its berth. She could do this, and she would do this, she was a Turner for god's sake. She was a pirate when it came right down to the facts. If anyone was going to get her beloved Will back, it would be her and only her. She would entrust the other two people that she trusted the most, Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa. She would put her personal feelings of hatred for both the men that she had felt at separate times during her life, and she would let them accompany her in her mission to hold her husband in her arms again. They had somehow gotten Jack Sparrow back, after he had been presumed dead for almost a year, and he had been at the bottom of Davy Jones' locker. And that's when she felt that same sickening weight in her stomach, making her want to vomit right there, feet away from the small building she knew she would find both men in. Wouldn't it be Will Turner's locker now?

Suddenly, everything came back in a rush to her, every vivid memory she had of him making her knees quake until she finally lowered herself down to sit on the floor against the wall right inside the door. I should have told you from the moment I met you… I love you. His voice rung in her ears, she felt as if she could see his lips moving just a few feet away from her, could feel her heart race in that same way, the butterflies fill the pit of her stomach. Before she could stop herself, she had gone from the first time he had trusted her with his heart, handing it to her in a much more figurative way, to the last time she had seen him on that beach. From the way he gently caressed her knee as he pulled the boot away, to the way his lips lingered on her skin. She could see the pain that clouded his vision as they both spotted the Flying Dutchman in the distance, and she could feel herself choke up as she remembered what he had said to her on that occasion. It has always belonged to you. Will you keep it safe?

Tears glazed her eyes now, but instead of letting the weak, miserable, deeply depressed Elizabeth have her way, she instead merely wiped them away before getting back up to her feet all on her own, not accepting the hands of any of the eager men around her. If anything, her bittersweet memories of Will Turner had only fueled her desire to win him back, go to the ends of the world and the depths of the see to feel his lips against her bare skin one more time. She took a moment to recollect herself, gently rubbing at the corners of her still moist eyes and pushing her hair back to rest behind her shoulders. This wasn't an easy task, but if she faced it head on and didn't let herself get discouraged, she was sure that she could overcome this as well.

Elizabeth held her head high as she made her way through the crowded room to the smaller darker less-inviting adjacent room, the one where she found both Jack and Barbossa residing at a small table hidden away in a corner. Her strides were long and purposeful as she approached them, her expression one of little emotion, despite the excitement, nervousness, and small amount of sadness that were still overwhelming her on the inside. When she came to rest beside their table, she crossed her arms over her chest, more for comfort and closeness than to look important, but the small gesture caught Barbossa's eye. The old man's face did not change, but she saw the flicker of recognition and then one of almost joy pass through his stoic eyes before he spoke to her, his voice soft and tired, yet harsh around the edges, just the way she remembered it. "Elizabeth Turner, it feels like it has been an eternity. I didn't think I would live to see the day I saw your pretty little face again. How are you, child?"

Instead of letting herself dwell on the kindness of his statements, the irony of the situation, coming to him yet again for help, or to respond with the same measure of care and concern, she instead took the seat between himself and Jack at the table, resting her elbows on its surface as she took a deep calming breath before beginning to speak. "I would love to catch up with the both of you, but that's not what I'm here for. You see, it has just come to my attention that I am still a pirate lord, seeing as there is no replacement yet in Singapore. In fact, I'm still the damn pirate king. And being that I am one of the nine great rulers of the sea, I'm not going to let it rule me any longer. I'm not going to wait another ten years before I see Will again, and I'm going to do something about it. I'm not asking you for your help, I'm demanding that you do as I say, for just this once more. I'm going to need the Black Pearl and it's crew, as well as you two gentlemen to help me. And I'm not taking no for an answer, not this time."

There was an eerie silence that followed her tiny speech, one that made her bite her bottom lip just slightly as she waited on edge for whatever response they may have. She watched intently as they both stared at her before looking at each other, and then once again at her. She sunk back in her chair as Jack got to his feet, and she assumed the worst, that he was just going to walk away and let her know that it couldn't be done. But she saw that same cocky grin cover his face instead and she felt his strong, weathered hand clamp down on her shoulder a little too hard. Looking into his eyes, she could see that he recognized the same changes in her that she herself had seen, and she let herself get the slightest bit hopeful even before he spoke, his words seeming to put a bandage on her broken heart, a temporary mend for a wound only one person in this world could fix. But, like everything else in her life, it was a start." Elizabeth Turner, welcome back."