Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Should it change, I let you know immediately.

Chapter 7

The sky was murky, and the rain was coming down in ice-cold torrents. The churning sea seemed dangerous and ominous. The gloom around the ship deepened with every second, plunging the ship into darkness. The waves were tossing the ship about mercilessly.

Jack was standing at the helm, trying to control the ship, but it was virtually impossible. The waves were breaking on the deck, and it was a task in itself not to let the waves wash him away.

Elizabeth could hardly keep from going up the stairs. The cook locked himself in one of the cabins, and did not care what may happen to anybody else. Elizabeth was standing near the stairs, holding on to the banister, and listening to the wind, and the driving rain. She was trembling and terrified, and as she could not bear the tension any longer, she finally decided to go out on deck.

Outside, the sky was tenebrous. She was astonished at the sight of this sudden darkness, but nevertheless she struggled through the rain, calling the only name that could bring her peace.

She found Jack at the helm. He grabbed her towards him, as he noticed her, obviously displeased with her presence on the deck.

"I told you to stay below, Elizabeth!", he shouted through the roaring waves.

"I couldn't", she answered, turning her face towards him.

He looked at her, and hugged her close, holding her firmly with his one hand, clenching the helm with the other. She snuggled her face into his chest, and closed her eyes.

It seemed that the storm was never going to cease.

Suddenly, a lightning lit up the dark sky, and for one short moment, everything around glimmered in the rain. But the lightning did not disappear, instead it flew across the sky, and hit the mast, breaking it. And then the sky, and the sea grew dark again, but only for a split of a second; only to calm down as suddenly as it earlier suddenly churned up.

The horizon started to brighten, and it stopped raining. The sky was blue again, and the ocean as quiet as before.

"Is it over?", whispered Elizabeth.

"Aye. It seems so", said Jack, wrinkling his forehead, and looking around with suspicion.

"Why?", asked Elizabeth.

"I don't know, Lizzie. Neither why it started, nor why it ended. But it is over", he looked at her, regaining his cheerful smile.

The worst things could happen to Captain Jack Sparrow, but as soon as they were over, they were becoming mere inspirations for great stories to be told, and there was nothing frightening about them anymore.

Elizabeth and Jack were soaking wet. Water was dripping from Jack's hat, but it was hardly believable that a minute ago they were in the middle of a storm. The ocean was as calm as ever, and the sun was shining brightly up in the blue sky. As if nothing happened.

"I think I told ye to stay below, luv", said Jack rather peevishly, looking at her seriously, but still holding her as firmly as if there still was some danger around.

"I thought it was more like guidelines...", she smiled timidly, making no effort to loosen his embrace.

They had their eyes fixed on each other, and no words seemed to be necessary. They must have looked silly from outside, just standing motionlessly and speechlessly, having their eyes riveted to each other, as if under a spell.

Jack could not recall a moment like this in his past. His world used to be so noisy and crowded, filled with laughter, joyful yelling, and void-filling conversations about... he did not even remember about what. He hardly remembered any words, any faces. Maybe the reason for this was that he did not look carefully enough. Maybe nobody looked carefully enough at him either. There were people who liked him. There were people who enjoyed his company, people who, in a way even missed him sometimes; perhaps. But there was absolutely nobody who would just stare at him silently for five minutes.

He slowly ran his hand across Elizabeth's face, to make sure she was real. But she was real. She shivered under his touch, as he gently brushed her lips with his rough fingertips, observing with curiosity how her eyes were becoming hazy. And yet it was the simplest gesture he could think of.

He leaned towards her, feeling her quickened breath on his face, gazing at her steadily.

Elizabeth was looking into his dark, enigmatic, hypnotizing eyes, and feeling guilty at her inability to do anything to stop him, to prevent him from doing whatever he was doing, if he was doing anything. She was not quite sure what he was up to. Or maybe it was just her feverish imagination, and it was really nothing, apart from a gentle, very gentle touch, and...

She was already half-conscious when he kissed her. She just closed her eyes, and everything vanished. Everything except for him, and this overwhelming feeling of absolute happiness, completeness which was flowing through her body, giving her an impression that it all could not be real. She got lost in the kiss, she got lost in Jack, and maybe it was all wrong, but she could not and did not want to fight this feeling. He kissed her as ardently as she could have ever imagined it possible, yet, with such a gentleness as can only be the result of something more than fancy, of something more...

She sighed softly when he broke the kiss, and opened her eyes with difficulty. He was looking away, frowning. She needed a few seconds to regain her senses, and only then she saw what he was looking at. And she heard what he must have heard. A noise. A shouting noise. Somebody was shouting and screaming.

She followed his eyes and saw the cook jumping up near the railing and shouting some unrecognizable words. The cook. She forgot all about him. Yes, the cook. And the Black Pearl. Isla de Dolor. The reality came back to her.

"What is he doing?", Elizabeth asked, perplexed.

"No clue, luv", answered Jack with some resignation.

The cook suddenly turned around, and as he noticed them staring at him with confusion, he shouted towards them:

"The ship is sinking! There is a gigantic hole below!"

Elizabeth and Jack looked around astonished. Indeed, the ship was rocking rather unsteadily, and it felt weird under their feet.

"But there is a ship behind us!", continued the cook in a loud voice. "I think they noticed me!"

"They surely did", agreed Jack rather maliciously. "I check below", he said to Elizabeth, and walked down the stairs.

Not too far away from them, a ship with white sails was clearly visible. Jack, coming back from below deck, sadly confirmed the words of the cook. The ship was, indeed, sinking. They took what was necessary, that is the maps, and the wooden box from Philip Fairwood, as well as some water, and food, and got into a longboat, bound to wait for the approaching ship, as there was no land in sight.

It is a fine event to be rescued, in the middle of the ocean, by a passing ship. But the joy over the happy coincidence soon vanished, when Jack and Elizabeth climbed aboard the ship, and saw the faces, that looked decidedly too familiar.

"How did they get here that fast?", whispered Jack to Elizabeth, sincerely surprised.

"No clue, love", she answered quietly in a faltering voice, looking rather blankly at her father's explicitly annoyed facial expression.