A/N: Sorry for the long wait…I've been a little busy. ; Don't kill me!

The Pearl and the Lurker sailed on through the open sea days on end. There was never any sign of land or a horizon, so the only thing that drove the crews onward was their captains. Elizabeth put all her effort into encouraging the men to push on, that their destination wasn't just some fantasy. She knew that if there was a Locker, there had to be a Fountain. It wouldn't make sense for Sao Feng's map to tell the truth about one thing, and then lie about another, though it would be very smart manufacturing. In response to her human nature to be determined and have a mind set, the men all pulled their weight and never doubted her strong confidence in herself. Elizabeth found that she was turning out to be much greater a captain than she had imagined.

The only thing that ever made Elizabeth even to the slightest doubt herself, was the way Jack and herself avoided eachother with both their eyes and voices. Elizabeth constantly tried to start a conversation with Jack, but he'd always find something to distract himself with and then disappear. When she'd grown tired of this, Elizabeth gave up and began to altogether ignore Jack for the sake of her own nerves. His response to this was to continue to act just as he had been since the serpent's attack.

Jack spent most of his time gulping down rum to dull his senses. He would talk with the other men aboard about random things such as the truth in their mission and sometimes about how much rum one another could quell. When he was halfway sober he would walk out on deck and gaze off into the sea, his mind lost in his own thoughts. If he happened to see Elizabeth near by he'd make a quick dodge from her view and return to dwelling beneath the deck, where he'd hurry to drink more rum to settle his racing thoughts.

And so this was how the days went on, constant avoidance and sailing. Jack had never bothered to take a shift steering again, and Elizabeth accepted that fact easily. She'd rather not have a drunken Jack Sparrow sailing her ship. The downside to this was that she'd had to pick someone to be her first mate so that she could get sleep every now and then. She'd found a fairly decent candidate soon after the attack from the serpent. He was a slightly taller than herself man, green eyes shone from his face, and he was very polite. He was older than Elizabeth by many years, and she sometimes found herself thinking of him as an uncle or such. White hair and sideburns were what he wore along with his clothing. He also was very dark in complexion, being out in the sun so much definitely had a toll. Elizabeth was sure she heard him walking up the steps to the steering wheel now. She turned and smiled when she found she was right.

"You've sailed all night, Captain Swann, don't you think it's time for a bit o' rest for ye?"

Elizabeth grinned wider in response. "Oh I suppose, Tank."

Tank nodded, "Well alright then, get on to bed." He smiled and took her place at the wheel.

Elizabeth let go of the wheel and walked down to the deck, still smiling warmly to the wood flooring. It felt so good to have a more parental figure in her life once again. She looked up and glanced amongst the many figures walking along, doing their duties well as they went. She kept walking, her eyes shining brightly as she headed towards her quarters. As she skimmed along she was secretly looking to see if Jack was about, it was a subconscious act of her eyes. She was about to looked back at the floor again when she caught a pair of eyes staring at her. They belonged to Jack. The two of them locked eyes for just a moment. Jack was standing by the railing of the Lurker, most likely he had been watching the waves as he usually did, but Elizabeth was wondering if he'd been watching her for longer than just that moment. She blinked as someone walked in front of her, obscuring her view, and when she opened her eyes again, Jack was gone. She sighed and then continued on, reaching her quarters.

That night she had a mind boggling dream of herself twenty years into the future. She was still married to Will, and there were three children dancing around her waist, apparently waiting for their father's arrival home. Elizabeth could see herself as if she was another person, and she didn't like what she saw. She was haggard and tired, her hair was up in a bun and loose strands flew around her head as she stumbled through the children, trying to make some sort of food for them. The door to the small room they were in opened, and Will Turner appeared in the door way, looking just as poorly as she did. His hair was much lighter and his eyes dull, he was unhappy it was clear. He strolled across the room and was bombarded by the three children. He merely walked through them and right past Elizabeth without so much as a passing glance and headed off into another door that appeared in the wall out of nowhere. The children were a bit dismayed and were silent for a few seconds. Elizabeth seized the opportunity to follow her husband and she found him just on the other side of the door.

"Leave me." He said darkly.

Elizabeth put a hand on his shoulder. "Will you not even look at my?"

Slowly he turned his head, glanced quickly at her face and then turned back around.

"This job has changed you a lot Will…it's not very good for your health."

"So what? There's nothing we can do about it." After a few seconds he repeated, "Leave me."

"But-"

He turned in a flash his hand held flat in front of him and it made contact with Elizabeth's cheek, resulting in a clapping sound and leaving an ugly red mark in its place.

Elizabeth's eyes opened to reveal that she was back in her quarters on the Lurker, the night dark and her room smelling of moldy wood. She was panting slightly and a slight sweat had broken out upon her forehead. She touched her hand to her head and found that she had goose bumps all along her arms, and shivered. Utterly shaken and feeling very timid, she couldn't bare to stay in her room any longer. She quickly jumped to her feet, her under clothes the only thing covering her body, and went out onto the deck into a starry reflection of the sky. Her feet were bare, and she wrapped her hands around herself, her arms shivering even more in the night breeze. Knowing that Tank would be steering, she decided to leave him along so as not to worry him about her health, and made her way to the railings where she so often saw Jack kneeling over in a dismal fashion. She found the place and, seeing no sign of anyone else, knelt over the railing and looked at the stars glittering into the sea. They wavered as the water moved, never staying completely still in one place. She blinked slowly, trying to calm herself from the dream she'd had, and continued the sigil. After another quarter of an hour she looked up from the water and into the sky above. She heard the creaking of a wood plank and quickly looked behind herself, her nerves still on the edge.

A few feet away a silhouetted figure stood, looking a bit surprised. Elizabeth recognized him immediately and breathed into the cold, her eyes blinking softly. Without really thinking she walked forward to Jack and quickly wrapped her arms around him, letting her head sink into his chest. He was warm and comforting as his arms slowly embraced her in return, and though his breath smelt of rum, she knew he was more sober than he had been in a long time. After what felt like hours of feeling safely hidden from everything, Elizabeth pulled back very slightly and looked at Jack, one small tear prickling the corner of her eye.

"What in blazes has got you awake at this time?" Jack asked slightly above a whisper.

Elizabeth gave a small laugh in spite of herself, "Oh…it was just a silly nightmare."

"Silly, eh? Seems to me it was a bit more on the suspenseful side."

"Yes, it was tragic, but it's nothing to linger on." Elizabeth replied, nodding her head.

Jack smiled half heartedly and touched his hand to her cheek. "Alright."

His hand slowly fell away and he backed away from Elizabeth, turning his back to her and starting to walk off into the shadows from whence he came. Elizabeth shook her head to herself and started following him, knowing that her voice alone would not bring him back. She didn't know if he could hear her or not, but she didn't care, and she continued to follow him until he stopped in front of his own quarters. There he turned his head slightly, glancing at her in question. Elizabeth just blinked at him, not even sure why she was following him herself.

"I suppose you'll be being too scared to go back to bed then?" Jack asked slightly mockingly.

"No!" She retaliated defensively. He looked at her doubtfully. "Well…maybe." She finished.

"I suppose you can come in…" Jack said, still looking a bit doubtful.

Elizabeth noticed how out of character he seemed to be acting. It was as if he had lost his will to be sarcastically charming, and Elizabeth was determined to make him snap out of it. Without replying she stepped past Jack and into his dark room. It was identical to her own, except that it was littered with rum bottles. He came in after her and closed the door, looking past her with a blank expression. Elizabeth turned to him and saw his eyes as he passed through the light of his window. His eyes were alive again, a sparkle in them, and definitely a hint of a small thought in the back of his mind. This made her smile.

"What?" She heard him ask no sooner had her lips curved.

"Oh….nothing…" She said in a fraud voice that she knew he'd recognize.

To her surprise, he smiled. For the first time in so long a time that she couldn't really put a date on it, Jack smiled, and it made Elizabeth's heart swell with joy.

"It's just that….well, it's simple really. You're smiling, you know." Elizabeth stated.

Jack grinned now. "Is smiling a crime these days?"

"Not that I know of." Elizabeth replied bluntly.

She glanced at his bed as a few thoughts jumped to mind, but quickly she turned way from the bed and looked instead at a rum bottle as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Something on your mind?" Jack asked in a sly voice.

Elizabeth turned her face to him with a coy smile. She recognized that voice, and she was sure that Jack was gaining his personality back.

"Nothing I should like to share." She responded, still smiling.

"I guess I'll have to read your mind, then…" Jack said, walking closer to her.

Elizabeth hardly dared to think of where this was headed; rather she just accepted it beforehand so as to save her mind for later.

"I'm waiting." She finally said.

Jack grinned and filled the gap between her and himself, looking rather seductive.

Elizabeth smiled sweetly and looked softly into Jack's eyes. Suddenly she realized this wasn't a game of cat and mouse anymore, Jack was only human, and so was she. Before she could stop herself she kissed him to find that he was fully prepared for this. At first it was just a slow, longing kiss that expressed how they had each been wanting to taste the other ever since the kraken had swallowed Jack live. But it soon developed into a deeper, delving kiss that was growing with passion every second.

It was with expert experience that Jack slowly directed Elizabeth towards his bed, and Elizabeth was amazed at how quickly she found herself lying on her back with nothing but a sheet covering herself and Jack. But the night had only begun, and she knew that this would only be the beginning of a new romance to be had in her life, so it was with a growing love that she allowed herself to be taken over by instinct and longing.