A/N Thanks to: Shani8, NazgulQueen, quilhan, Flightstorm, enchantedsleeper and Starlight1534 who reviewed! So great was the response that I went around for the rest of the day in ridiculously high spirits and kept randomly breaking out in maniacal giggles (much to the consternation of my family).
So, here is the next chapter and lets hope it lives up to the first one. As you can see above, reviews are very appreciated.
"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life."
The Fray 'How to save a life'
"William… William" A voice called from a long way away. Will woke slowly, feeling pleasantly sleepy. Tia Dalma reached down and shook him by the shoulders, still calling at him to wake.
He opened his eyes reluctantly and was immediately surprised by the urgency that he could see in Tia's black rimmed eyes.
"What is it?" He asked, feeling slightly more awake. His mind drew all sorts of terrible conclusions while she kept him in suspense. It could be the Kraken, or Davy Jones or Beckett or a vengeful god or a hurricane… the list continued in his mind as she forcefully dragged him from his blankets.
They emerged on deck, where the early morning sunlight was just beginning to evaporate the rain from last night. Tia Dalma strode quickly across the wet surface, looking unusually grave, a fact that didn't serve to make Will any calmer.
"Tell me what's happening." he appealed, any high spirits he might have had evaporating as quickly as the water on deck.
"I was out on watch when I heard her." She said, not looking at him but turning down the stairs towards the kitchen.
"Elizabeth?" He asked wildly, his spirits plummeting even further.
"She cried out, it's a wonder that you didn't wake." Tia Dalma turned past the kitchens and into a space he'd never seen before.
"Wait." Will grabbed her arm, his eyes flashing with anger and frustration. "Where are we and what's going on?" He demanded.
She stopped and turned to him with a strange expression on her face.
"This is the infirmary, and I think you should see for yourself." She replied darkly.
Will felt his insides shrivel with dread and turned to the door. He turned the handle and gently pushed the door open.
Inside was a small cot on which a figure was sprawled. To Will's immediate relief she didn't seem to be fatally injured and there wasn't any blood to be seen.
He stepped towards her and saw that she was flushed and shivering. His heart sank.
"Fever?" he asked quietly
Tia Dalma nodded.
"Don't get to close." She added, brushing a sympathetic hand over his arm.
Will ignored Tia and moved closer, as he did Elizabeth's eyes snapped open, staring straight into his own. She paused for a second, but then suddenly a wave a of recognition passed over her fever bright eyes.
She sat up and grabbed his hand. With slight shock Will realized that there was tears standing in her eyes.
Tia Dalma moved as if to intercept the contact, but froze as Elizabeth spoke.
"I know I said I wasn't sorry," She began, in tones hoarse with illness. "But I only realized how much I missed you after you'd gone."
Will frowned in confusion, but reached down a hand to brush her hair away from her hot face. She pressed her face to his hand and the tears fell, trickling down her gaunt cheeks. She was so fragile, so in need of protection, and so beautiful that it was like falling in love all over again.
"I missed you." She said, her too-bright brown eyes still full of tears. "But I knew you'd come back, Jack."
Will tore his hand away as if burnt and felt his heart break. She didn't appear to notice and was still watching him with love in her eyes, but now it was meaningless.
Someone moved in the doorway and he remembered that Tia Dalma was still there. He kept his gaze determinedly away from her, having no wish to see the pity in her eyes.
"'Tis only a fever-dream, Will, and the illness will pass, give or take a few days." Tia Dalma said.
Will didn't look at her because he couldn't tear his eyes from Elizabeth; whose eyelids were drooping shut. She had a perfect look of love and contentment on her peaceful face that was almost painful to see.
"Good." He replied dully, without conviction, to Tia's statement.
And with that he walked away, feeling decidedly lower with every step.
x-x-x
Elizabeth floated in the murky depths of a tangled fever. Fear and illness confused her senses and she lost track of where she was and whether she was asleep or awake. She had the impression of half remembered dreams of a gypsy and a pirate and a traitor, but her memory was fractured and uncertain.
One thing stood out from the chaos, an image of a young Barbossa standing outside the Captain's cabin, his blue eyes burning with cold fury. In her mind's eye for reasons she couldn't fathom, the face changed. Instead of Hector, Will stood there, his beautiful brown eyes frozen in an unfamiliar expression of anger and pain.
Elizabeth started from her dream, if it really was a dream, and woke. Her face was clammy and cold, but thankfully no longer hot with fever. In her mouth was the bitter taste of one of Tia Dalma's horrible potions. Potions that had probably saved her from an untimely death.
Steps sounded outside the room and she shut her eyes hurriedly, because she didn't feel up to talking quite yet. The person opened the door and stood in the doorway. To her surprise the person spoke.
"You came back." It was Tia Dalma who was speaking.
Elizabeth was about to open her eyes and admit to being conscious when she realized that the statement was directed at somebody else.
"What did you want me to do?" asked Will, he answered lightly, but it seemed to Elizabeth that there was an undercurrent to his words.
She wondered quietly if he knew that she was awake.
"You could do better." Replied Tia, her words uncharacteristically serious.
Will paused, Elizabeth wanted to see his facial expression but decided it wasn't worth missing the rest of the conversation.
"But I still love her." He said quietly and Elizabeth came to the uncomfortable awareness that they were talking about her.
"Even after all she's done?" asked Tia Dalma sharply.
Elizabeth felt a stab of guilt and fought the urge to squirm.
"Yes…" he said softly.
Her breath caught in her throat and she barely noticed as he left the room. She found herself feeling guilty for something that she'd never considered was her fault. Was she the reason their engagement had fallen apart? Sure she'd stopped talking to him, but it wasn't like he'd been any different. In fact she'd been almost certain that he didn't love her anymore…
Tia must have seen the struggle on Elizabeth's face, because she became aware that the girl in bed wasn't actually asleep.
"Are ye happy?" Tia Dalma asked dryly, her accent thickening with frustration.
Elizabeth sat up, blushing furiously at being caught eavesdropping.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" She trailed off under Tia's sharp gaze.
It felt like hours but it wasn't long before Tia Dalma walked away. Elizabeth, who was still feeling like a small child being scolded, sighed in relief. It was a pity that the relationship between them had turned out like one between adult and child, because it had been years since Elizabeth had had a proper girl friend.
She would have liked to ask Tia about the strange dreams, but it seemed that she wasn't going to chat to Tia Dalma any time soon.
There was a faint cry from above that told her that land had been sighted, so she left her disturbing thoughts behind and made her way to the deck. This took longer than expected, as she was still weak from fever and her muscles seemed to have the consistency of jelly.
It was late afternoon and the sun was low in the sky, sending beautiful white-gold light sparkling across the clear water. The dim outline of a harbor was visible against the horizon, which made her wonder how long she'd been asleep. Before she'd become ill they had been about a week from Singapore, but she couldn't have slept that long.
Still feeling a little dizzy, she jammed her hat on her head and found Gibbs sitting on a coil of rope close by.
"How long did I sleep?" She asked him
He looked up and seemed surprised to see her.
"It's good to see you up and about, lass. How long have you been asleep? Well… I'd hazard a guess at about 4 days." He said, beaming.
Four days! Well this must be Singapore then, she thought a little angrily. She hated feeling weak and girlish. Though it was understandable to succumb to an illness in the bad weather that they'd been having, it appeared that no one else had been sick.
She attempted a smile that may have looked more like a grimace and wobbled away. It wasn't long before the dark smudge on the horizon became people and ships and houses and soon enough Barbossa was announcing a plan of action.
"I haven't planned to stay here long, so we'll be out of the harbor the day after tomorrow at the latest. Marty, Gibbs and Cotton you are in charge of acquiring supplies for a long journey……." Barbossa bossed them around for a while longer, assigning jobs to the crewmen and Elizabeth stopped paying attention.
It was evening now and a slight chill hung in the air. The docks were a fascinating bright affair and were now teeming with sailors, merchants, whores, tradesmen and civilians. Elizabeth was so lost in the colorful sights in the Harbor that she didn't even notice that Barbossa was talking to her until he coughed loudly.
"As I was saying, Miss Swann here, Master Turner and Tia Dalma shall accompany me on a business venture. That will be all." He finished, still smirking in her direction. The crew separated dutifully and quickly vanished from the ship, onto the docks and away into the town.
Elizabeth sighed and regarded her three companions. None of them were looking at her and they were talking amongst themselves. She wondered whether that there was anyone else in the world that she would hate more to accompany into town at this moment. They left almost without looking at her and she dragged behind.
Feeling impossibly lonely for someone who was surrounded by people.
x-x-x
With regard to that strange Will/Elizabeth interaction in there, DON'T WORRY she's not going insane! She was just feverish and having delusions/hallucinations…
Thanks for reading and it'd be good if you dropped me a review with your thoughts!