Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. The music lyrics that I sometimes include aren't mine either.

Authors Note: I used these lyrics because I believed they fit well in describing Will and Elizabeth at the moment, and how they are separate but have not forgotten each other. Enjoy the chapter.

I would like to thank my beta, muse, and friend: snowyjay-chan

Thank you sooo much! Without her this story probably would not exist.

And I would also like to thank two other friends who have been reading the chapters as I write them and have given me a great deal of help. You know who you are!

Well that's pretty much all I have to say right now. I can't wait for your reviews!!

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I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams

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"My God, Jack! Ye've done it again!" Mr. Gibbs said, thumping him on the back. "How'd ye manage to get yourself out of it this time?" he chuckled, clearly amazed that Jack had survived the Kraken ordeal.

Jack grinned, getting ready to tell the tale of how he had survived the Kraken, which would naturally be well over exaggerated, when he was interrupted by Gibbs who had just noticed Elizabeth.

"Miss Elizabeth?" he asked, blinking, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. "You survived!" he said jovially, hugging her briefly. "How did ye manage getting' yerself in a place like this? And with ol' Jack!" he said, clearly wanting to know what has happened since her departure.

Elizabeth smiled, "We were just on the way to the tavern, I'll explain everything there." And with that the three of them began to walk to the Faithful Bride.

"Alright…" Gibbs said, returning to the table where Jack and Elizabeth were sitting, carrying three bottles of rum; Elizabeth eyed hers apprehensively, 'Oh, it's so early in the morning.' She thought with a frown. Jack noticed and rolled his eyes, smirking to himself.

"So…" Mr. Gibbs said after taking a long draft from his mug. "How'd ye two get 'ere?" he asked, looking from Jack to Elizabeth. Jack showed no sign of getting ready to speak, Elizabeth sighed and was silently forced to begin the tale.

"Alright," she said, glancing at Jack with narrowed eyes. "Well you know all about the mutiny..." Gibbs nodded solemnly, not daring to tell Elizabeth that if they hadn't marooned her she certainly would have been killed. 'Or worse.' He thought, suppressing a shiver, recalling the horrible night of mutiny.

"It was very ironic, and might I add unfortunate, that I was marooned on the same island Jack had washed up on after the Kraken ordeal." She grinned, just joking. Jack surveyed her over the top of his mug. "Unfortunate…eh?" he said, after setting it back down on the table. "If I didn't happen to be there you'd still be stranded." Elizabeth's smile vanished. "Oh really, what makes you so sure?" she asked coolly.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Mr. Gibbs. "Alright, alright!" he glanced warily between them. "Miss Elizabeth, please just continue."

Elizabeth nodded; Jack leaned back in his chair, glaring at Gibbs. "Well, that night I ran into Jack." She started again, not looking at Jack. Gibbs noticed and rolled his eyes. 'These two…' he sighed.

"Later on we found The Pearl. It had washed up onshore and was beached." Elizabeth spoke slowly; still surprised that The Pearl had just happened to be on the same island they were on. 'There has to be something behind all these coincidences.' She thought.

"We worked on repairs for almost a week, with little resources. Finally we were able to set out, but the ship still wasn't in the best of conditions. After almost another week we finally made it to Tortuga…and here we are now." Elizabeth finished.

Gibbs nodded, "That is very ironic that you found Jack and The Pearl on the same island…" he muttered. Elizabeth shrugged, "Yes, I suppose." She thought it was a bit odd, but she hadn't thought about it much. 'Mr. Gibbs have always been very superstitonal.' She reassured herself.

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The cool waters of The Caribbean splashed around Elizabeth's ankles as she walked along the beach. Mr. Gibbs and Jack were somewhere in Tortuga buying materials to repair The Pearl.

Elizabeth sighed and glanced out at the vast horizon where the sky and water met. She smiled to herself; the ocean was so beautiful. Never would she grow tired of it, nor would she ever understand all the dark mysteries it held in its depths. She inhaled deeply, breathing in the fresh sea air.

After a little while Elizabeth grew tired of walking. She perched on a rather large piece of driftwood, leaning back against it, subconsciously rubbing her injured arm, which was rather stiff and sore.

'They should be getting back soon.' Elizabeth thought, slightly anxious. 'Knowing Jack and Gibbs they probably stopped to get a drink,' she reassured herself and soon put the thought from her mind.

Elizabeth gazed out over the crystal clear waters again, which seemed to hypnotize her. She watched the waves slowly crashing against the shore and felt completely tranquil. Looking at the water always made her feel this way, but she never could say why. She felt a strange connection from it, a calling; she had felt this way even when she was a young girl, but never this strong.

'But what does it mean?' Elizabeth had asked herself this may times before, but it seemed to be a lot more often ever since she had met Jack.

'What does Jack have to do with this?' She did not know the answer to this question just like so many others she has asked herself. Maybe just because he basically lives at sea, or maybe not, she didn't know, but what Elizabeth did know was that she was envious. Envious of Jack's life. He had so much freedom; he could do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to. She had grown up with such strict rules and very high expectations; she was tired of always trying to please others. She wanted to do what pleases herself.

Elizabeth sighed and glanced down the beach from where she came. There she saw two figures slowly making their way toward her.

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Jack sighed deeply as he took a seat next to Elizabeth. She noted that he was accompanied by a rum bottle; her suspicions were confirmed.

"Did ye miss me luv?" Jack asked grinning at her. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes of course." Elizabeth replied sarcastically. "That's not very nice." Jack said with a look of mock dismay on his face. "Well then maybe I'm not a very nice person." She tried to hide her smile. "Pirate." He muttered, putting his arms behind his head and leaning back against the driftwood. Elizabeth punched him lightly.

"Now did I really deserve that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes." Elizabeth answered simply; she smiled innocently. Jack sighed and shook his head.

Silence fell between them as Elizabeth gazed out at the water. Sensing Jack's eyes on her she looked back at him. "What's wrong?" she asked, beginning to feel nervous under his piercing gaze, and her face growing warm. "I don't recall anyone saying anything about something being wrong darlin'. Why?" Jack watched her reaction from under half-closed eyes, amused.

"Well then I guess nothing is wrong." Elizabeth said a little too quickly, diverting her gaze away from Jack, whose grin broadened. "Not at all." Elizabeth was painfully alerted to how close Jack was, when she felt his warm breath on her cheek as he spoke. A shiver swept through her body.

She made the mistake of locking her gaze with his once more. His dark eyes were drawing her in, and she was afraid if she didn't resist there would be no going back…but it was so hard to.

"Jack…you're terrible." Elizabeth whispered, leaning towards him slightly, despite her feeble thoughts of trying to leave. "Might that be the reason why you are still here?" he smirked. She hesitated, 'don't do it.' "Maybe I shouldn't --" she was cut off by Jack claiming her lips with his and all former thoughts suddenly vanished.

Elizabeth gave in to the kiss and felt her arms wrap around Jack's shoulders, her traitorous fingers entangling in his hair as she kissed him back, fervently.

Jack grinned to himself and wrapped his arms around Elizabeth's waist, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. He slowly trailed his fingers up her back; they came to a rest at her neck and gently played with a lock of her hair. She shivered under his touch.

Elizabeth felt safe in his arms. She knew Jack would never let anyone or anything harm her. Will of course would do the same, but Elizabeth had never gotten this sense of shelter in his arms before, and it bothered her. She put the thought out of her mind for the moment.

They finally broke apart and Elizabeth rested her head on Jack's chest, listening to his quickened heartbeat. Jack wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her hair.

"Oh God Jack…I really shouldn't be doing this." Elizabeth said, her voice heart rendering. "And why is that luv?" Jack questioned.

Elizabeth hesitated for a moment, "Because of Will…" she admitted. "I am engaged to him." She muttered. "But do you want to be?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is if that is what you truly want." He explained. "I know you, Lizzie." Jack sighed, "You are not one who is keen t' go back to being some common, quiet housewife." Elizabeth was silent, "You pretty much just read my mind." She spoke softly, surprised. "How could you know?"

"You and I, me and you, we're very much alike…did ye know that?" Jack smiled sadly. "Even more than you will probably ever know…" he paused for a moment, debating whether to go on or not. "I was in the same predicament long ago, just as you are now."

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, confused. "I haven't always been a pirate, Lizzie." He said. "Oh!" was all she managed to say. Of course that was obvious, but it was just that she had never thought about Jack before he had become a pirate. "Oh…well yes, of course." She said, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"Well…this is going t' be a bit hard to believe…" Jack chuckled dryly, "But I was once employed by the East Indian Trading Company."

"What?" Elizabeth cried, turning sharply to look at him, she winced as her arm throbbed. "Aye. I once worked under Cutler Beckett."

Elizabeth was silent for a moment, wondering if Jack could possibly be telling the truth. She assumed he was by his somber mood. "What happened?" she asked softly.

"One day he had me transport slaves to Port Royal. I didn't know till about halfway through the trip, but as soon as I found out I turned back and set them all free in Africa." He said, slowly running his fingers through the sand. "Naturally Beckett found out…he had me hunted down, sunk my ship The Wicked Wench, and branded me a pirate." He said, gesturing to the letter P that had been burned onto his forearm.

Elizabeth was silent; she had no idea what to say. "That's awful…" she was finally able to utter. "Aye, but I don't regret what I did. I never liked him… Beckett, that is." He sighed.

Silence overtook them once more as Elizabeth went through everything Jack had just said in her mind. She had no idea he had ever work for Cutler Beckett. 'That really must have been terrible..'

Elizabeth glanced out at the horizon; by the descending sun she could tell that it was late in the afternoon. Her thoughts changed to Will when she suddenly realized something. "I have to go talk to Gibbs." She said quickly, jumping up so suddenly that she startled Jack. Without another word of explanation she rushed down the beach in the direction he had gone.

How could she have been so stupid? Elizabeth knew Mr. Gibbs had been with Will the whole time, but it never crossed her mind to inquire about where he was after the battle.

She finally caught up to him, practically running him over in the process. "Miss Elizabeth!" Gibbs said, quite surprised, "What is going on?" he asked.

"You were with Will, right? So you must know what happened to him!" Elizabeth said rather quickly. "Aye, that I do." Gibbs grew very somber, which greatly worried Elizabeth. "I sorry t' 'ave to be the one t' tell ye this…but Barbossa turned him over to Davy Jones."

Elizabeth started at him in disbelief. "Davy Jones…?" Gibbs nodded. Without another word Elizabeth turned from him and began to walk down the beach. He did not try to follow her, just watched her go with a sigh.

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After coming across Gibbs, and finding out what happened to Elizabeth, Jack began to walk along the beach searching for her. It was now well after dark and she had not returned.

Jack had been walking for quite some time when he spotted a dark figure sitting on the beach, several yards infront of him. He walked over to it and as he approached he was able to identify said figure as Elizabeth.

She was sitting there on the sand, her arms wrapped around her knees, hugging them to her chest. She didn't even look over when Jack sat down next to her and put his arm around her.

"Hello luv!" Jack said, trying to sound in high spirits, Gibbs had already told him all about what had happened to Will. "How can you be acting so happy?" Elizabeth asked bitterly, still staring out into the dark. Jack sighed, "It isn't all that bad. We --" he was cut off by Elizabeth.

"Not all that bad? He is now a member of Davy Jones' crew, how is that not bad?" she asked, finally meeting his eyes. "If you would have let me finish, I would have said something along the lines of: We can still rescue him from the slimly clutches of ol' fish face's tentacles." Jack said with mild irritation.

"And how would that be?" Elizabeth asked, desperately fighting back tears. She would not cry infront of Jack. "Don't worry Lizzie, I'll come up with a plan." He said with a softer tone. "Do you promise?" she asked tearfully. "I promise." Jack said as he raised his finger to wipe away a stray tear that was rolling down her cheek.

This was too much for Elizabeth and she could not hold back the tears any more. "Jack you are being so kind to me and I don't even deserve it!" she cried onto his shoulder. "Shhh…it's alright 'Lizabeth." He said, rubbing her back. "No it's not, I practically killed you!" she sobbed. The guilt from almost killing Jack, and now with everything that had happened to Will, has been building up and she couldn't take it any longer. "And I forgave you." Jack said simply. "I didn't deserve it though." She said quietly.

Finally, after much talk, Jack had gotten Elizabeth to calm down. "Let's go back to The Pearl." He said quietly, standing up before pulling Elizabeth to her feel. She swayed dangerously from exhaustion and Jack quickly put an arm around her to support her as they began to walk back to the ship.

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There we are, hope you enjoyed it.

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