Disclaimer: Don't own any of these people exect Deadeye Alderman and Dona Esperanza...
Will wiped a trickle of sweat off his forehead. He pumped the bellows a couple of times and the fire roared in response. He peered intently into the flames, silently wondering why the coals were taking so long to heat this morning. He'd been at this since the crack of dawn, and the bloody fire STILL wasn't hot enough for him to start anything.
He fruitlessly pumped the bellows again and observed the slight flare of the flames before they resumed their habitual crackling.
"Dammit!" swore Will, frustratedly kicking the side of the furnace. He was still hopping about on one foot when there was a rapid knocking on the door.
Will sighed. It was probably Commodore Norrington coming to harass him again. He still had bruised ribs from their last encounter. He hobbled over to the door and opened it.
He was knocked back a step as an icy gust of air rushed into the forge, instantly dousing any feeble flames that were still left. His guest came in with the wind, swiftly slamming the door, but not fast enough to keep out all the snowflakes.
"What on earth - ! Is that snow! What - Elizabeth!" exclaimed Will. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm t-trying to g-get out of the s-snow," replied Elizabeth, her teeth chattering violently. She advanced towards the fire's embers, rubbing her arms and shivering.
Will hurried to the bellows and set about rekindling the fire. Elizabeth was drenched from head to toe: snow clung to her sodden locks, and had settled on her shoulders. Her lips were blue, and both her hands were red from the cold. She was shivering and her teeth were chattering.
Will straightened up from the fire and ushered Elizabeth onto a chair close to the hearth. He knelt at her feet and took her hands in his.
"God, you're freezing!" he said, furiously rubbing her hands to restore warmth. "Did you walk all the way from your house in this weather?"
Elizabeth's teeth were chattering too much for her to reply, so she merely nodded.
Will shook his head. "You shouldn't have come. It would have been better for you if you had stayed inside. If it really is that cold, you should've stayed at home and kept warm, instead of coming out all this way in the snow to see me."
"I-it's n-not that," she said. "I had a f-fight with my f-father. And it's w-warmer here an-anyway."
Will smiled wryly. "Not by much. I was having trouble getting the fire started this morning and now I guess I know why. Honestly, you should have stayed at home. At least you would've been warm."
"No," replied Elizabeth vehemently. "Anywhere you are is better than where my father is."
Will stopped trying to warm up Elizabeth's hands and looked up into her face. He didn't need to say anything. His eyes said it all. "You have snow in your hair," he said softly, and rose to his feet. He gently trailed a finger across her collarbone as he walked around behind her. Then, his fingers light and careful, he began to pull the chunks of solidified snow out of her hair.
Elizabeth shivered, both from cold and from Will's affectionate touch. The warmth from the flickering fire was helping, but it was more Will's fingers brushing her neck than anything else. She stared sleepily into the flames, lulled by the crackling heat, when suddenly she felt Will brush her hair aside and kiss her neck. She opened her mouth to protest, but lost all words when he moved his mouth to gently kiss the place where her jaw and neck met.
She closed her eyes and sighed. His breath was soft on her neck as he whispered in her ear. "Are you still cold?"
She stood and smiled, stepping forwards so he could take her, still slightly damp, into his embrace. Elizabeth grinned coyly as she looked up at him, her head cocked to one side, as she replied. "Just a little...maybe you should - "
The rest of her sentence was cut of as Will bent his head to claim her mouth once again.
For a few all too short moments, Elizabeth allowed herself to be lost in that kiss. To forget all her worries, the snow outside, and all the things that could tear them apart. For it to be only her and Will, alone where everyone would let them be, was too much to ask in the restictive society in which she was raised. He was a blacksmith, and she was the governor's daughter. They loved each other. Was it really too much to ask?
Elizabeth reluctantly broke the kiss. "We can't," she said softly. "Not at a time like this."
"A time like what?"
"It's just - " she sighed. "There's snow outside, Will. Snow where there should never be any. And it's not getting any better, it's getting worse. Do you really think this is the time, or for that matter, the place?"
Will, however grudgingly, had to admit she was right. "No," he replied, "you're right. We have to figure out what's causing this. We can't just sit around slowly freezing to death while the Navy runs around like a bunch of headless chickens."
Elizabeth smiled at the image Will's metaphor conjured. She laid her head on his chest and he obligingly held her closer. She sighed. "I agree. We have to do something. The authorities are too bogged down in bureaucracy and tradition to know how to handle a crisis like this."
"We have to find out what's causing it. Snow in the Caribbean isn't natural. Someone's behind this."
"Not - not Barbossa - "
"No," interrupted Will sharply. "Barbossa's dead. He's not coming back. It's someone else."
Elizabeth was silent. She knew Will was right: Barbossa was dead. But why was she still afraid of him? "If it's not Barbossa, then who is it?" she asked.
Will shrugged. "I have no idea. But we're definitely going to have to find out. The snow could kill off everyone and everything down here. No one's prepared for a cold like this. Look what happened to you. Not everybody will be as fortunate."
"We can't do this by ourselves. We have no way to contact any of the colonies and no one here is going to know anything. We're going to need help."
Will grinned. "Of course. And I think I know just the man for the job..."
Elizabeth felt the slow beginnings of a smile creep across her face. "Jack Sparrow."
Will nodded. "That's him. If anyone knows anything about this, Jack will."
"But we don't even know where he is, or even if he's alive."
"I wouldn't worry," replied Will, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "If I know Jack, he's fine. And if he's anything like the man I think he is, he's already on his way here."
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