A Civilization Gone with the Wind

Disclaimer: Disney wouldn't accept a price of five dollars for Pirates of the Caribbean, so I still don't own it!

I'm Not a Marrying Man

A/N: I have no idea why I'm still writing this! I just really like it myself!

Elizabeth still Swann was sitting on the edge of the deck where the railing had been shattered by a passing cannon ball, dangling her bare feet over the edge. The sea breeze ruffled her hair as she watched the waved swell and recede. She wished her life had the simplicity of those constant waves, but it was tangled and confused. She was engaged, and she should be rapturously happy, but she wasn't. There was something holding her back.

Captain Jack Sparrow emerged from his cabin and made his way over to her. Elizabeth shifted in irritation. He was the last person she wanted around just now. He would tease and make fun of her and Will. She thought that if Jack called Will a eunuch one more time she would jump up and slap him in the face, like his "acquaintances" at Tortuga did. Or worse yet, he would accuse her of murdering him, and then what would she say? He would be absolutely right. Besides, Jack made her feel very uncomfortable when he was around. She wasn't sure why.

Jack sat down next to her and smirked, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you thinking of, love?" he asked.

"Nothing that concerns you," she snapped back, and stared determinately out at the sea, hoping he would take the hint and go away.

"Now, you can't do that, lass," Jack informed her. "You've killed me, and now you might as well talk to me to make up for it. What's troubling you?"

When she didn't answer again, he continued,

"Oh, don't tell me! 'It's just that I should be married by now,'" he said, miming her in one of their previous conversations. "You'll be married soon enough," he assured her, slightly bitterly.

"You sound sorry," Elizabeth said, wondering if this could possibly mean that he… loved her. Could Captain Jack Sparrow love? She didn't think that being loved by him would be a pleasant thing.

"I'm not sorry at all," Jack said, not exactly meeting her eyes.

"Jack…" Elizabeth hesitated.

"Aye, love?"

"Have you ever… loved anyone?"

"You mean do I love you?"

Elizabeth slapped him as hard as she could.

"How dare you!" she exclaimed.

"Well, that's what you meant, isn't it?" Jack asked, rubbing his cheek. "So I'll answer your question. No, I don't love you. And if you think that you love me, you're wrong. It might just seem so – "

"I love Will!"

"Yes, I know," Jack said. "But say that I loved you and you loved me. Would you marry me?"

"Well…" Elizabeth hesitated. "I suppose if I really loved you… I would."

"If I said that I love you, would you marry me?"

"Yes,"

"So you do love me."

"I didn't say that!" Elizabeth cried with another slap.

"I'm telling you, 'Lizabeth, you don't want me. You're meant to be with Will. There's nothing for you with me."

Elizabeth stared at him. She was scared and sorry that she started this conversation at all. But somehow, as it always was with Jack, she understood herself a little better. She knew that she didn't want a comfortable boring life in Port Royal where everyone would gossip about her and have no adventures anymore. But she didn't want to always sail the seas either, lost, with no home in the world. She knew that she couldn't live without Will, but could she live without Jack?

"I'm bad luck, love," Jack said softly. "And I can't give you the thing you need most." She knew he meant love.

"Elizabeth!" came Will's voice across the deck. He had come out of his cabin to look for her.

"I'd never marry you, anyways." Jack told her. "I don't want to settle down like you do,"

Elizabeth stood up and Jack stood up too. Elizabeth looked at him and Will. She knew, somehow, that this was the most important moment in her life. If she stepped towards Jack, she would be leaving behind the chance at quiet, happy life with Will, and towards adventure and freedom. If she stepped towards Will, she would be stepping away from the pirate life and towards a life of love and contentment.

She stepped forward…

…straight into Will's waiting arms.

A/N: Please review! I'm so lonely without reviews!