Disclaimer: I do not own Captain Jack Sparrow or Elizabeth Swann (Disney does). I only play with them from time to time.

A/N: It's short, I'm sorry. The next one's longer. I owe thanks and a bucket of cookies to SoftStuff for her mad skills.

Sunantaô: to meet face to face

Chapter Two: Sunantaô

Elizabeth allowed herself a smile as she slid through the water. It was ethereal, this underground, underwater world, lit by a faint blue bioluminescence that seemed to come from the very walls. If the chart was right, the caves should be only a few minutes swim ahead. The chart had been dead on so far (with the possible exception of the misshapen gull), but Midori had convinced Elizabeth to let out a rope behind her as she swam, since she refused to have anyone else with her. Selfish as she was, Elizabeth wanted the first glimpse of the treasure to be hers and hers alone. Not to mention there was always the chance that Jack had come and gone already. It was a slight chance—they'd seen neither hide nor hair of the Pearl the entire trip—but Elizabeth wasn't sure how she would take that disappointment. It seemed safer to go alone.

As she swam through the eerie blue light, she wondered for the thousandth time what had possessed her to give that locket to Jack. Months later, and she still didn't know the answer. She supposed, in the small, cold, twisted thing that was her heart, she felt she did owe him something. After all, he'd saved her life more times than she cared to remember, and all she'd done was kill him and break his heart. And burn his rum. And run away, time and time again.

Ah, well. She owed him nothing now. Even if he never found the treasure, the locket in itself was worth a broken heart or two. With a mental shrug, she banished all though of Jack from her mind, concentrating on the task at hand.

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A godawful clatter jerked Jack awake, and he sat bolt upright, wondering where he was and what the hell was going on. He looked around. He was alone in a cave, sitting on a very uncomfortable rock. An almost empty bottle of rum rocked gently on the ground beside him. He stared at it as his senses slowly returned to him. So that was what had made the noise. He picked up the bottle, thanking whatever gods were listening that the thick glass remained unbroken. He lifted it up to examine the contents critically, but something caught his eye. There was a dark shape in the water, swimming towards the rocks.

Finally, he thought with an anticipatory grin, and raised the bottle up to his lips.

Elizabeth broke the surface of the water and tossed her dripping hair out of her face. The first thing she saw was a pair of brown leather boots. Incredulous, she followed the boots up to a pair of black breeches, and then to an arm clad in a white cotton sleeve holding a bottle of rum. The rum paused halfway up to a pair of lips, but Elizabeth's disbelieving gaze kept moving upwards until it met a pair of kohl-rimmed chocolate eyes, sparkling with mischief.

Jack watched her face, wondering if this moment was worth everything he had gone through to get here first. Her mouth went slack and her eyes held complete and utter shock. She took another step forward, water streaming off her, an Aphrodite rising from the foam, her shirt clinging suggestively to her body. She opened her mouth.

"Damn."

Jack grinned. Yeah, it was worth it.