Disclaimer: Apparently, Disney still owns POTC.

Chapter 15

"You have got the ship. What else do you want?", asked Governor Swann looking desperately at the man before him. He couldn't quite make out his face in the dim light of a large room.

"I don't want anything else", replied the man simply, probably smiling.

"So where are they? You said you will send them back", he was gradually feeling more and more hopeless, as all his efforts proved continuously useless.

"I didn't say anything of the kind", he said almost disgustedly. "I said that you can bring them back, if you want."

"I do want", said the Governor in a low voice.

"So do", the man shrugged his shoulders indifferently, and turned away, as if intending to leave the room.

"How?", whispered Governor Swann with an effort.

The man stopped, as if considering something for a moment.

"Why are you doing this?", suddenly asked the Governor, misinterpreting the man's behaviour, and taking it for a good sign. "You take away some people at random, without any reason, what for?"

The man turned around, and as he was approaching, the Governor could see his face, or rather something that once must have been his face, before it turned into a dark, marked by scars mask, with the pair of piercing, unnaturally shining, dark eyes in it.

"Always the same", he said through his teeth. "People always say the same thing, that they want their beloved back, that I am cruel. They prefer to accuse me instead of proving me wrong. Because they cannot prove me wrong, but that's a different story", he added with an evil grin. "The fact is", he continued looking intently at the Governor, "that they can't do anything, because the reason for which they would do that, does not exist."

"I don't understand", said Governor Swann, trying to gaze at him steadily, trying not to be afraid.

"Love", he hissed. "It does not exist. And without it, nothing can be done", he turned around, ignoring further questions, which the Governor attempted to ask, and in no time he was out of the room.

"Elizabeth?", whispered Will, finally going back to the sheer reality, and slowly getting up.

"No. Barbossa", replied Elizabeth with annoyance, resting her chin on her hand.

Will stood up, then, apparently not feeling too well sat down again, and looked around in amazement.

"What is that? What's happened?", he asked, finally focusing on Elizabeth.

She was looking at him like she has never looked at him before. He knew her moods, and her temper, but it was never directed towards him, and he was not really used to it. And now she was clearly upset. She was angry. She was angry with him, as there was nobody else in the room. So it must be him. Still, his head hurt, and he could not quite remember why she should be angry with him.

"What's happened?", he asked timidly.

She did not answer; just stared at him disapprovingly.

Oh, yes. He remembered. He locked her in the cabin, and then... Then there was a storm, and... everything went dark. And now they are here. He looked around. But where are the others? They were here alone.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth", he said in a low, but firm voice. "I didn't mean to..."

"Yes, you did", she interrupted him sharply.

"No, I didn't", he insisted. "Let me explain..."

"I don't need your explanation", she said, looking away.

"Elizabeth..."

"It's Miss Swann", she cut in.

"Since when?", he asked, this time feeling slightly annoyed himself.

"Since you locked me up in that cabin! Since you lied to me!", exclaimed Elizabeth with a frown.

"I lied to you", repeated Will bitterly. "Well, I did not think that lying is this very vice which disqualifies people in your eyes", he observed almost ironically. "There are some people out there who lie all the time, and it does not seem to bother you that much", he added feverishly.

Elizabeth blinked nervously, trying to find a good reply to this.

"I thought you would never lie", she said after a moment of silence, unable to come up with a better answer.

Will looked at her seriously. He could not understand why he still loved her. Did he still love her?

He was confused. There was something in her that was making him weak, but was it love? Not her love, of course; but his love for her. But then again, was it still love?

She represented all his dreams, his past, his hopes. Initially, he did not even dream about being with her. She lived in a different world, of which he could barely take a brief look. But then, the dream came true. She cared for him... for a while. For a while he hoped that she loved him. Until he saw her kissing Jack on the Pearl. Then it was over. It did not matter that she did that to rescue the crew, to rescue him. It did not matter that she sacrificed, and then abandoned Jack. There was something in her eyes, something sincere, for a change, something that he has not seen before: a sparkle, a flame, a fire. She might have left Jack to die on the Pearl, but she took his soul with her. His soul was within her, from that day on. Will saw it in her eyes on that day, and later tried to forget it. But now he painfully clearly saw it again. As if it was not Elizabeth, but Jack who looked at him through her eyes right now.

"I thought you were going to marry me... in what would be now how many? Five days, I suppose", he said thoughtfully.

Elizabeth bit her lower lip, suddenly feeling uncomfortable; feeling that the sense of guilt, that Jack made her forget almost entirely, was now coming back to her.

"You'll be never happy with him", announced Will with an irritating conviction in his voice.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, and stood up determined to get out from this room at all cost. She did not wish to be listening to Will's grim predictions concerning her future. The future that he could not possibly have any idea of. Because it was her future. Her future with Jack. Jack. Jack. He could not possibly have any idea of how it felt, how it felt like... She felt like crying at the sudden recollection. His arms... His arms wrapped around her not long time ago. She could almost feel his lips on hers... Elizabeth shivered. She did not want to cry in Will's presence. She turned around, and went on strolling along the room without any good reason.

"Maybe he didn't say what I said he did", continued Will, as he stood up, and followed Elizabeth with his gaze. "But I'm sure that it is exactly what he thinks."

Elizabeth gave him a disdainful look.

"You've no idea what he thinks", she whispered firmly.

"Neither have you", said Will, turning away from her.

"Perhaps we should better focus on getting out from this place", she suggested, raising her eyebrows.

"I should think you'd be rather waiting for being miraculously rescued by..."

Elizabeth covered her ears with her hands, which was rather an infantile behaviour, but she just could not stand Will's remarks concerning Jack. She could hardly believe, that several days ago she actually wanted to marry Will. He did not know her. He simply did not know her. And it was not something that could be explained, or learned. They were different. They were just different.

Suddenly, the door opened, and somebody walked in.

"You're free to go", said the man with a strange, frightening face, and eyes glistening in the dim light.

After a minute of hesitation, Will decided to obey first, and he slowly approached the door. The man let him out. Elizabeth observed the scene carefully, and was not sure whether it was at all a good idea, but having the necessity to choose between trying to go out, and staying in the windowless room, she decided to take the risk of the first possibility.

Just when she was about to pass through the door, the man took a quick step forward, and stood in the doorway, blocking her way.

"But you... are not", said captain Harness walking out, and slamming the door behind him; leaving Elizabeth now eventually completely alone.