Will opened one eye and squinted. There was no way to tell exactly what time it was, but judging from the position of the sun, it had to be late morning. He allowed his eyelids to drift closed again, as he lay quietly, unmoving, enjoying the cool breeze from the sea, and the warmth of the woman lying beside him. Elizabeth was nestled in his left arm, or at least where his left arm should have been. He had completely lost all feeling in it some time ago, but was reluctant to shift his position for fear of disturbing his wife. Who knew when he would have a chance like this again? It was worth any discomfort he felt just to have her near. Her face, mostly obscured by her blonde hair, was buried in the side of his chest, her arms curled with her fists tucked protectively under her chin. The feel of her warm breath caressing his skin tickled slightly, but as with the rest, he would never have complained. The temptation to wake her up was difficult to resist. He had so much he wanted to tell her, and so little time to do so. The fear that he would forget something important gnawed at his insides. They were rapidly approaching the moment when they would be parted, and there would be no more second chances.
He had nearly fallen back to sleep when Elizabeth sighed, and stretched next to him. He inhaled sharply at the now familiar experience of her smooth, bare skin gliding against his. He still couldn't tell if she was awake yet or not, but at very least she was beginning to stir. He flinched slightly as she tried to bury her face in deeper into his side, the silky strands of her hair tickling his skin to the point of distraction. He felt her body twitch slightly, whether in response to his reaction or something else, was difficult to say. He thought he heard a calm sigh, but it was so faint, that he could easily have been mistaken.
Elizabeth started as she opened her eyes, and for a split second could not remember where she was. How could she have forgotten? She smiled happily to herself, realizing the expanse of pale skin blocking her view belonged to the man who was now her husband, and that he was now hers and hers alone. She moved her head slightly to lightly kiss his exposed flesh. She continued to trail the line of soft, feather light kisses from his side, across his chest and up to his neck before she lifted her face to his. He sucked in a shaky breath, grazing his right hand up her arm to rest on the back of her neck, before pulling her in for a much more intense good morning kiss.
"This is not how I imagined this," Elizabeth said, pulling away, a tinge of sadness coloring her words.
"How so?" Will gazed into her eyes, as he tangled his fingers in her hair.
Elizabeth gave the tiniest shrug of her bare shoulders. "I think I had an image of us snuggled under the duvet, sharing the same pillow. I wanted the first thing I saw to be you looking back at me."
"Like this, Mrs. Turner?" He asked as he rolled them both over on their sides so that they were lying face to face with each other.
Elizabeth giggled. "Or at least something vaguely like it."
Will gave her a weak smile. "I wanted our wedding to be everything you had ever dreamed of." He sighed softly. "I wanted you to have everything you ever wanted, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't give you any of it."
Elizabeth could hear the regret in his voice. She tenderly caressed the side of his face with her fingers. "I love you," she whispered. "That and the fact that you're still here with me are the only things that matter." Her fingers brushed gently over his lips. "And I know you'll come back to me."
Will kissed her fingertips, then wound his fingers through hers. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead, her eyelids, her nose, and finally her lips before pushing himself up to hover over her. "So, Mrs. Turner, what shall we do today?"
Elizabeth smiled. Her eyes were still closed. "Say that again."
"What shall we do today?" he asked, pretending to be puzzled by her request.
"Not that part." She opened her eyes and rolled them dramatically.
"Mrs. Turner? Is that the part you meant?"
"Mmm. Yes, that's it. I won't ever get tired of hearing it, I don't think."
"Are you sure you should use it?"
"Why ever not? I fought for it, I earned it, it's mine." Elizabeth noted the concern in Will's voice, but answered determinedly, almost possessively.
"I seem to recall that I had it first, but I'm more than willing to share it with you. I just don't know how wise it would be to claim it right now." He kept the look on his face serious, but inside, he was overjoyed at the prospect of the world knowing that she belonged to him.
"You didn't exactly answer my question," Elizabeth said, lying on palm flat on his cheek. "Why shouldn't I be Elizabeth Turner now? It's who I am." She flashed him a sly grin.
Will resisted the urge to return her smile. "Because you don't know what you'll find once you leave here. Beckett may be gone, but the Company is still strong." Will paused to consider what to say next. "You – you might have a better chance of survival as Elizabeth Swann."
"That doesn't matter to me. I've said it once and I'll say it again. I'm Elizabeth Turner now, and I'm not going to hide that fact."
Will looked at her seriously. He didn't want to tell her what to do or what not to do, even though it was now his legal right to do so—not that he ever intended to exercise those rights, they just weren't that important to him—but he needed to make her understand that her survival was far more important than what name she used—not an easy task with someone as headstrong as Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth, I'm just trying to point out that Swann will carry more weight than Turner ever will. Your family has ties to the aristocracy. You could go back to England. There would be people there who would help you." He diverted his eyes from her face for a moment before meeting her eyes again. "My family—I don't even know what to say mine is. I'm the son of a pirate. I'm a tradesman. I'm no one of importance to anyone besides you."
Elizabeth stared him straight in the eyes. "Don't ever say that again. You're a better man than any I've ever met, and you mean everything to me. And as for the rest, it doesn't matter to me – you matter to me. I'm proud to be your wife." Her bright smile began to fade. Her eyes shone with tears of frustration that she refused to set free.
"I'm just worried about your safety, that's all. Please understand that. If they think I'm…gone, then maybe they will leave you in peace," he pleaded.
Elizabeth turned her head to one side so Will couldn't see her face, and the tears that were getting harder to hold back. It was bad enough that she would have to tell him goodbye in a few hours, but to pretend he was no longer a part of her life was unthinkable. "Do we have to talk about this now?" She fought to keep her voice from breaking.
"No, we don't have to talk about it at all." Will pushed himself back over and into a seated position with his back to his wife. "Elizabeth, I won't ever tell you what to do or try to make your decisions for you, but you can't blame me for wanting to protect you." He turned his head to glance back at her. "You're all I have. You're all I've ever really wanted." He turned back to look out towards the waves breaking on the shoreline.
Elizabeth reached over and lightly touched his back in reassurance as she sat up. She placed both of her hands slightly below his left shoulder as she leaned forward to kiss him there. She then rested her cheek on the same spot. "I didn't mean to upset you, or make you angry."
He tilted his head to the left to rest against hers. "I'm not angry. I could never be truly angry with you. It's just frustrating not knowing what lies ahead for you, not being able to take care of you, knowing that all of the plans we made were for nothing."
"I don't deserve you."
"No, you don't. You deserve someone who can take care of you, protect you, provide you with a home. Someone you can build a family with. I can't do any of those things now. I couldn't do many of them before."
"Don't say that."
"It's true." Will's voice was flat and emotionless.
"Even if it is, it doesn't matter to me," Elizabeth sighed softly. "And that's not what I meant anyway." She paused just long enough to rebuild the courage she needed for what she was about to say. "You didn't deserve to be burdened with someone as selfish as me."
"You're not selfish."
"Yes, I am. How much have you suffered through because of me? You stole a ship of the Royal Navy to save me. You risked your life to rescue Jack from the gallows because I didn't think it was right. You worked far too hard, and far too many hours, just to prove yourself to me. Even these," she traced the scars on his back. "No matter what you say, you got them because you were trying to save me, and then suffered in silence because of what I did with…to Jack."
Anyone who could have heard Elizabeth at that moment would have noticed the hysteria creeping into her voice. Will twisted around to wrap his arms around her in an attempt to console her. He hadn't realized how tense she was until he felt her relax as she slumped into his embrace. She buried her face into the right side of his neck and rested her left hand on the opposite side in what was apparently a vain attempt to hide her tears. I can't let her slip back into the state she was in when we arrived here. "Elizabeth, sweetheart, everything I did was by my own choice. I would do it again, if I had to. Please don't blame yourself. I can't leave you with that burden."
Elizabeth shifted to a less awkward position, but kept her face down. "Jack told me that when he first met you, you told him you were willing to die for me," Elizabeth whispered.
"Yes," Will confirmed slowly, "but why are you bringing that up now?"
"I'm not that brave."
"Bravery had nothing to do with it. Besides, I think you may have killed a few people...fish…something, for me."
"It's not the same."
"No, it's not, and I don't want you to worry about it. What happened can't be undone. We won't gain anything be dwelling on it. I love you, and that's all that really matters to me right now."
"I love you, too. Nothing can change that."
"Even if after today I won't see you for ten years? Even not knowing what will happen to us?"
"Even if you could stay, we wouldn't know what lies ahead. That's how the world works. We never could have foreseen where we are right now."
"I know." Will was relieved to hear Elizabeth no longer teetering on the edge of despair.
"And as for the rest…we have today. Let's make the best of it we can." Elizabeth eased her left hand off his shoulder and down his arm to rest on his left hand – palms together, scars crossed.
"So I can take care of you today?" Will asked impishly. "And what of our other plans?"
"What is that quote? Man proposes, but God disposes? We'll have to wait and see where this leads us and then make a new plan of attack."
"It's not a war."
"But it will be a struggle, we can't pretend it won't be," Elizabeth said seriously. "But," her voice perked up. "I'm not going to depress myself anymore. I think I shall just relax and allow my husband to fulfill my every desire."
Will choked back a laugh. "Is that how it's going to be?"
Elizabeth exhaled sharply. "That's not exactly what I meant, but now that you mention it, it doesn't sound all that bad of an idea."
"Does this mean I'm to be one of those husbands who is compelled to answer his wife's every beck and call?"
"As tempting as it sounds, I could never do that to you. I think though, I would like to go for a walk."
"Done," Will said as he reached for his breeches and shook the sand out of them. He dusted off his feet, then pulled the breeches up to his knees before standing up to pull them the rest of the way on and tying the cord at the waist.
"Sailor's knot."
"What ?" Will asked, turning his head towards Elizabeth, noticing with a touch of disappointment that she had put her dress back on and was now standing up, busily brushing the sand from it.
"Sailor's knot. You tied your breeches with a sailor's knot. It doesn't slip easily, and is easy to untie."
He turned around, put his hands on his hips, and stared at her for a moment.
"What?" Elizabeth asked this time, curious as to what she had done to make him look at her so strangely.
"I can't decide if I should be impressed that you recognized that or scared that you did. Might I ask what you plan on doing with this bit of information?" He raised an eyebrow as he spoke.
Elizabeth batted her eyes innocently, and gave him a small shrug of her shoulders. She then stepped over to him, and draped her arms around his neck. "You're not complaining, are you?" She kissed his chin.
"Never." He bent his face towards hers and kissed her soundly. He smiled at the dreamy expression on his wife's face when he eventually pulled back from her – eyes closed, eyelids fluttering, lips still parted, breathing a bit harder than normal. "Elizabeth?" he said almost reluctantly, "shall we go?"
Elizabeth sighed heavily as she opened her eyes to see Will standing before her. She smiled brightly when she noticed he was standing with his arm crooked as if ready to escort her to a ball. "Don't you think you should put on your shirt first? It wouldn't impress your crew very much if their new captain arrived sunburned to a point he could hardly move."
"I don't seem to know where it is. Someone else was wearing it last I recall."
"Whoever would do a thing like that?" Elizabeth played innocent while she scanned the area looking for the errant shirt. She remembered that she had been wearing it. She knew when and why it had come off. What she didn't recall was where it had gone from there. She was on the verge of surrendering her search when she spied just the tiniest sliver of maroon fabric peeking from beneath the edge of the now seriously rumpled blanket. She stepped away from Will, reached down to snatch it up, only to stumble back one step as the fabric slipped through her fingers. She grinned sheepishly at Will as she tried again, this time tugging harder to free the missing garment from its sandy prison. The shirt popped free spraying a fine coating of sugary white sand over everything.
"You want me to wear that?" Will ran a hand over his face to brush the sand from it.
Elizabeth flapped the shirt several times trying to rid it of as much grit as possible, but it wasn't an easy task, not to mention that it sent more sand flying about. Seeing that her efforts were going mostly unrewarded, she changed tacks and began brushing furiously at the fabric. "I'm so sorry, I have no idea how it got there."
Will began laughing as he took the shirt from her. "I know precisely how it got there." He pulled it over his head and let it hang loose. "And I think we must both bear the blame for that. Now shall we?" he asked, offering her his hand.
After a short side trip for Will to retrieve his knife, the pair walked down to the beach, hand in hand, hardly able to keep their eyes off each other. They turned towards a stand of palm trees visible in the distance when they reached the water's edge. Elizabeth stopped and scrunched her bare toes in the sand. Will followed suit.
"I'm going to miss doing this," he said absently.
"Walking with me?" Elizabeth picked up their joined hands and kissed Will's knuckles one by one as they continued their stroll.
"Yes, that." He smiled at her. "And feeling the sand between my toes. It reminds me of us – before. When we could steal some time alone and we would go for walks near the water."
"Then it's only appropriate that we spend today on a beach." Elizabeth wrapped her arm around Will, sidled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Yes. Yes, it is." He turned his head to kiss her hair.
"Will? Where will I go after today?" She tried her best to not let her fear show in her voice, but wasn't able to do so.
"Shipwreck City." He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze.
"But this isn't Shipwreck Island. I've only seen it at night, but this isn't it." The worry was beginning to take control of her speech.
"No, it's not, but it's in the same archipelago."
"Would this mean that somewhere in the bag of trinkets I was given, is a heading to go along with the compass? Am I to row myself there?"
"No." He kissed the side of her head again and nuzzled her ear. "Jack is supposed to send someone for you. I'm just not sure how soon after I…after sunset."
Elizabeth kicked at the water washing around her feet then lifted her head from Will's shoulder and looked at him. "Do you ever wonder why after all that has happened, after what I did, Jack always does the right thing in the end? How many times has he done what's right by both of us when it could have cost him so much? Even given that he's a good man, he's still a pirate."
"I can't say for sure. I really don't have anything to base this on, but I don't think he's always been a pirate."
Elizabeth's eyebrows creased in confusion, considering the possibility. "Then...why? How? It makes no sense."
"It not making sense would be quite typical of Jack, don't you think?" Will smiled mischievously. "Think about it. He plays at being a dirty, low life pirate, and yet he's obviously well educated. You're the one who read all the stories about him. How many other pirates do you know who have his reputation, and have sacked so many ports without a single report of rape, pillage, plunder, murder, mischief, mayhem, or what have you? It's sometimes nearly impossible to see, but he does nothing without some specific goal in mind."
"I never thought about it like that. But his father is a pirate – Captain Teague. I saw him. How could Jack have ever been anything different?" Elizabeth winced as she realized what she had said and regretted every syllable. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you…I wasn't thinking."
Will smiled at her, reaching his left hand up to trace the side of her face with one finger. "I understood what you meant. Don't let it worry you. Maybe Jack's father wasn't always a pirate either. I honestly have no idea."
"And what of your father? How do you think he ended up leading the life he did?"
Will contemplated his answer for a minute or two as they continued their stroll down the beach. "I…I don't think he was a pirate at first either. I think he may have been a merchant sailor like my mother always told me, but I'm certain he had turned to piracy by the time he left us. I think she believed that it would be easier for me if I didn't know. I idolized him as a child. I'm sure she didn't want me to follow in his footsteps as it were – not that that did any good." Will rolled his eyes.
"Don't say that. She did a fine job raising you. What has happened to you – to us, is no one's fault."
"I know. Now can we please find something a bit happier to talk about? We're beginning to discuss things that are far too serious for newlyweds."
Elizabeth laughed as she stepped in front of Will. She draped her arms around his neck and began kissing him all while continuing to walk backwards towards the palm trees that were their destination. Will wrapped his arms around her waist, and held her as close as possible. They hadn't covered more than ten paces, all of it while focused intently on each other's lips, when Elizabeth took one false step, and fell over backwards into the waves washing against the sand. Will, if possible, was paying less attention to where they were going than his wife was, and fell heavily on top of her. Elizabeth grunted as her breath was knocked out of her. Will quickly pushed his hands into the soft sand in an effort to raise himself off of her, but Elizabeth kept her arms locked around his neck, impeding any progress he might have made.
"That wasn't very subtle, now was it?" she teased.
"What?" Will's eyes narrowed in confusion, then widened as he grasped her meaning. "I had no part of this, but now that you mention it…" He smiled invitingly down at her. "I can't say that you were very subtle."
"Are you trying to lead me into temptation?" Elizabeth feigned shocked innocence.
Will dipped his head and kissed her lips. "I don't think it would require any leading." He looked up and ahead of them. "But since you mentioned it, there would appear to be a spring or something near the trees. Perhaps you would allow me to lead you there?"
"And the temptation part?"
"I would hate to disappoint you so I'll see if I can think of something." He kissed her again before rolling off of her, and climbing to his feet. He then offered a hand in assistance to Elizabeth who had managed to sit up in the wet sand and rapidly retreating water.
Will was right about the spring, but it turned out to be much more than he expected. As anticipated, there was a small, shallow pool of fresh water surrounded by graceful palm trees. The water was crystal clear, the bottom was clean, white sand, the sides sloped gently into a slightly deeper depression in the center, giving the whole thing the appearance of a flattened bowl. The ground rose sharply on the side away from the sea. Water from above spilled over a rocky edge into the pool in front of them. Off to one side was a narrow track, too narrow to have been made by humans, leading towards higher ground, and apparently, the water's source. A dense screen of trees, vines, bushes and other plants crowded the sides of the path.
Will and Elizabeth cautiously negotiated the narrow pathway. The abundance of decaying vegetation covering the pathway obscured the slippery rock beneath. Elizabeth's struggle to maintain her footing overrode her reluctance to release Will's hand. After the third or fourth time that she nearly fell, she impulsively reached out for something stationary to hang on to. Will patiently waited for her to regain her footing each time but no longer tried to catch her when she slipped.
Reaching the top of the ridge they had first seen, they still did not find the expected spring. Instead, they discovered a series of step like drops, carved into the living rock by the water, about five yards or so in width, leading still higher and further away from the sea.
"It's beautiful," Elizabeth commented as she admired the movement of the water down the course. In some sections it trickled lazily over an edge, in others the flow of the water was so steady, that it appeared to be an unmoving curtain that stood out in sharp contrast to the sections where the water splashed and swirled in an impatient rush towards its destination.
"Is it?" Will tore his eyes away from the water, and gazed at his wife. "It's not as beautiful as you, though." Although she did not say anything in reply, Will noticed the faintest of smiles playing at the corners of her mouth and palest of blushes color her cheeks. "Would you like to continue?"
Elizabeth nodded, not taking her eyes from the breathtaking sight before her.
The climb became increasingly arduous as the ground beneath their feet became more rugged, the vegetation thicker – some still dripping moisture from yesterday's storm—and the pathway grew steeper. The sounds of animals skittering through the undergrowth as they fled their unexpected intruders, and the calls of the birds screeching in the trees startled Elizabeth more than once. Will was either completely unfazed by the sounds, or he was putting on a brave front for his wife. Elizabeth did wonder if his apparent lack of concern for their surroundings was born of the knowledge that nothing – save stabbing his heart, could physically harm him. Does he even realize he's changed in that respect?
Will gasped in shock as he reached the topmost portion of the trail.
"What?" Elizabeth asked, before she too saw what had caught Will's attention. "Oh my," she breathed.
At the top of the cliff lay the spring that was most certainly, the source for all the water below. It was quite large, the size of a small pond, perhaps fifty or so yards across. The side nearest the cliff's edge sloped gently inward for a few feet before dropping off quickly. The clarity of the water made it difficult to estimate its depth, but it was obviously substantial. The water itself had an unusual translucent blue green cast to it that made the whole area resemble a mammoth, highly polished gemstone. Lush clumps of various ferns grew right up to the water's edge, their graceful fronds arching towards, as if to touch, the water's surface. On the plateau on the far side from Will and Elizabeth, was a thicket of trees growing wild, in the rich, black soil. Many of them bore fruit that the young couple recognized as both edible and good to eat. They had learned the hard way during their travels that the two terms were not entirely synonymous.
"Do you think it's safe to drink? I am so thirsty after that climb," Elizabeth asked Will, although she was well aware that he had no more reason than she did to know such things.
"Let's see," he answered, walking towards the edge that dropped off the most, he crouched down, dipped one finger tentatively into the water, then tasted it. His forehead wrinkled in bewilderment, contemplating the surface of the water for a moment.
"Well? Is there something wrong with it?" Will's expression had momentarily unnerved Elizabeth.
Will immersed his entire hand into the water and swirled it around. A bemused smile formed on his face. "The water's warm. It's a hot spring."
"At this point I don't really care," she commented as she knelt down beside him and began scooping up handfuls of water to drink. She paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression forming on her face. "Actually this is even better, because right now I would love nothing better than a bath."
"Help yourself. I'll just watch," Will said innocently.
Elizabeth scowled at him for a moment, then broke into a grin. "Oh, will you now?" She teasingly shoved at him, pushing him off balance, and into the water.
Will had apparently been about to offer his wife an equally saucy reply as he hit the water with his mouth open. He resurfaced quickly, spewing water like a fountain, dark brown curls now thoroughly soaked, and hanging in his face. He leaned back to float just below the surface and pushed his hair out of the way. "You, my dear, are going to pay for that. I don't know how. I don't know when. But rest assured, I am not going to forget that," he said with a laugh.
"Will, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to push you that hard," Elizabeth pleaded seriously, offering him her hand to help him out.
Will rolled in the water to face her. "Apology accepted." He reached out to take the hand she offered.
And pulled.
Elizabeth hit the water with a small startled cry and a huge splash. ´"Will!" she blurted out angrily, the second she broke the surface.
"Yes?" Will's face was a model of complete innocence.
"I asked for that, didn't I?" she conceded with a laugh, and started to swim towards the shallow side.
Will grabbed one slender ankle as she neared him. Elizabeth flipped around to face him as he reached his free hand to grab her about the waist. The hand on her ankle began a slow journey upwards towards her thigh.
"I didn't know you could swim this well," Elizabeth commented, as they maneuvered their way towards the shallow end.
"Occupational hazard."
"I didn't realize that being a blacksmith required you to spend so much time in the water." They were now where Elizabeth could touch the sandy bottom with her toes, but only barely and even then it left the lower part of her face submerged.
"In case you've forgotten, I'm not currently employed as a blacksmith. And no, it wouldn't require quite so much time in the water. Unless, of course, I was taking a break to help my wife bathe."
Elizabeth exhaled slowly at the feel of Will's hands continuing their exploration.
She tilted her head back as Will began to kiss the base of her neck while simultaneously easing her dress upwards or at least as well as he could given its current sodden condition. She wrapped one arm around his neck for support, and worked the other arm out of the sleeve opening, then repeated the process with the other side. Will scrunched the garment into a rough ball and tossed it to the shore, while Elizabeth took the opportunity to ease one hand down Will's front to the bottom of his shirt, admiring while she did how it clung to his muscular chest. Will pushed them closer towards the shallow water so that Elizabeth could stand comfortably on her own feet, with just the tops of her shoulders breaking the surface of the pleasantly warm water. Elizabeth's other hand followed the first and began peeling the wet fabric away from Will's skin in a reciprocal effort to divest him of his clothing. He mirrored Elizabeth's earlier actions by carefully removing one arm at a time from the sleeves and then tossing the shirt to land near Elizabeth's dress.
Will wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and kissed her full on the lips then suddenly pulled back. "My knife!" He blurted out in alarm, reaching with one arm to check for it, but to no avail.
"What about it?" Elizabeth clearly wasn't interested in stray cutlery. She had something entirely different on her mind.
"It's gone." Will pushed away from Elizabeth and scanned the bottom of the spring. The clarity of the water made it easy to see all the way to the bottom, but the silvery reflection off the white sands covering it made it difficult to identify anything that could be the knife's short blade.
"I can't say I would be overly distressed at its loss," Elizabeth said with all seriousness.
"But my father gave it to me," Will replied absently, continuing his frantic search.
"But I can't forget what he used it for." Elizabeth spoke so softly that Will almost couldn't make out the words. "But I also know he didn't have a choice. I just don't have to like it."
"All you have to do is ask, and I'll stop looking for it."Will turned in the water towards Elizabeth as he spoke.
She hadn't expected him to say anything, but she could tell from his expression that he was serious. She could also see in his eyes how much the knife meant to him, no matter what its most recent purpose had been. "I would never ask something like that of you, you know that." She bent her head to peer into the water and join the hunt.
"Yes," he said simply, "I do know that." Will swam a few yards away from Elizabeth to search the area where he had fallen in earlier, or rather, where Elizabeth had pushed him in.
Elizabeth raised her head, feeling more than hearing Will dive beneath the surface. Supposing that he had spied his missing knife, she allowed herself to lie back in the soothing waters and float, legs dangling beneath her, as she waited.
And waited.
A brief flash of concern overtook her, quickly followed by the sickening realization that for Will, for now at least, it didn't matter how long he stayed under. She mused over the idea, considering the array of advantages and disadvantages of possessing such a unique skill. So lost in her own little world was she, that the touch of Will's hand on her foot seriously startled her. She instinctively jerked her foot away from him, returning to a vertical position in the water, amidst a generous amount of splashing. Her toes skimmed the sandy bottom, as she slid beneath the water's surface in her momentary panic. Upon resurfacing, she gasped for breath, then realized that she wasn't quite where she could keep her head above water without resorting to floating, treading water or something. She inhaled sharply; again starting to panic when she felt Will grasp her calf. He then ran his fingers over her ankle, and then kissed the top of one narrow foot, then the other. Elizabeth laid her head back in the water, stretched out her arms for stability, and relaxed. Will continued his painstakingly slow journey, with his fingers and lips, up her calf, to her knees, to her thighs…Elizabeth gasped, trying to pull one leg up to wrap around her his waist, only to be rewarded by submerging her own face under the water yet again.
Will retreated from his position to allow her to recover. Even from his position beneath the water's surface he could tell that she was breathing much harder, much as he was, and none of it had anything to do their location or swimming.
Elizabeth resurfaced, spit out a mouthful of water, and waited for Will to continue. This is not one of the advantages I had considered. She felt his hands encircle her tiny waist as he kissed the flat surface of her stomach. And for a man who was so insistent that he not do anything to besmirch my reputation, he certainly isn't showing any hesitation now. She fought in vain to control her labored breathing as he glided one work roughened hand from her waist to lightly graze one breast, then over one shoulder to behind her neck. He set his lips to hers and kissed her with the now much anticipated amount of heat and passion.
Elizabeth drew her arms in to embrace him and returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm. "I see you found your knife," she said, pulling away slightly.
"Mmm, on the bottom, as expected. It must have fallen out when you were trying to drown me," he teased.
"I seem to recall that you tried to return the favor, she responded, inching her hands down to the waist of his breeches, and again meeting his lips for a kiss. "Sailor's knot," she mumbled into his mouth, deftly untying the cord on his breeches.
"Quite secure in most cases," Will murmured, pulling back slightly.
"But easy to untie, although a bit more of a challenge without looking." Elizabeth tilted her face up, and kissed the tip of his nose.
"And wet, don't forget wet." Will added laughingly.
"But not a problem to someone truly intent on their task." Elizabeth freed the knot and slid her hands to Will's hips, then slid his breeches downward. "I don't think we need these."
.
Will leaned in to touch his forehead to hers as he drew in a ragged breath. There was no possible way for him to disguise where he hoped things were leading, nor was there any reason for him to believe he was anything but right. "Would you like some help with that?" His voice cracked with desire as he asked, but he did not wait for an answer as he somewhat awkwardly freed himself from his remaining clothing, knife included, which he subsequently wadded into a loose ball, as he had everything else. He paused for a moment with one hand over his head in preparation to toss the bundle ashore.
"This will never work," he breathed, continuing to both hold the clothing aloft, while kissing and caressing his wife with his remaining hand.
"Where's your sense of adventure?" Elizabeth accused seductively, cautiously moving backwards across the sandy bottom towards the bank, leading him along with her.
Will choked back a laugh. "That's not what I meant. My sense of adventure is perfectly intact," he replied with the same tone. "I meant that our clothes won't dry bunched up like that." He obediently followed her lead towards the shallows.
"They can wait. I can't."
"Is that so?" Will tossed the wadded clothing towards shore, but missed dry land by several feet. He huffed in irritation, trying to decide what to do next.
Elizabeth turned her head towards the water's edge when she heard the faint "plop" of the knife hitting the water. She relinquished her hold on Will, knowing full well that once he had his mind made up about something, there was no deterring him from his goal. No matter how intrigued he was with her offer, he would go rescue the confounded knife one more time and take care of the laundry, as it were. "Go," she sighed in resignation, sliding past him to swim out towards deeper water again.
She lay back in the water and ran her fingers through her hair while trying to remember the last time she had been able to properly wash it. Giving up on that, she righted herself and rubbed at her arms and face, in an attempt to remove at least the top layer of dirt on her skin. She quickly abandoned that project too, and simply allowed herself to float upright, with just her head barely above the water as she watched Will carefully spreading their clothing out in the blazing sunshine.
The whole procedure made her remember how different they truly were. She had grown up in luxury. If she wanted a new dress, she got a new dress. That was all there was to it. Will had never had more than one semi-decent suit at a time, and even then his best clothes were frequently in need of mending. If something she was wearing was damaged or stained, there was always someone there to repair it or clean it for her, and if that didn't work then it was easily replaced. That had not been an option for Will. She never once in her life had been bothered with the care of her wardrobe – that's why her family had servants; they had even been there to help her dress and undress. And while Will was adapting quite nicely to the latter task, his current concern with their clothing was surely born of his lifelong need that he take care of himself and his belongings, because no one else would.
Another wave of panic passed through her as she realized that of the two of them, Will would be equally adept at both the challenge that lay before him and the one that lay before her, while in all honestly, she was ill equipped to do most anything. She had learned to become far more resourceful than the average highborn lady, but now she was quite possibly facing a life of poverty – something she had no firsthand experience with. Her father had always taken care of her, but now he was gone. She had naively believed, and rightfully so, that Will would be there for her once they were married; and yet that wasn't to be, either.
She squeezed her eyelids tightly together, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening yet again. I have to stay strong for him. He has no choice but to leave me, and I can't make it any harder for him. She wiped one wet hand across her face the moment she heard the distinctive sound of Will diving back into the water.
"What's wrong?" Will's voice was tender and comforting as he brushed damp fingers down her cheek.
Elizabeth shook her head. "Nothing…nothing that you can fix." She stretched so that her toes barely scraped the sandy bottom of the spring.
"If there were any way…."
Elizabeth opened her eyes – the unshed tears still shining in them. "Shhh." She smiled faintly and with an increasingly familiar gesture for them, touched her index finger to his lips. "I don't want to waste any time talking about what cannot be changed."
Will lifted his hand to hers and lightly kissed her palm. "I love you."
Despite the tears, that only moments before had threatened to break free, Elizabeth's face beamed with unbridled joy. "I love you too. I don't tell you that enough, do I?"
"Who's to say how much enough is? I still know, even if you don't say it aloud." Will pushed several strands of wet, blonde hair out of her face.
Elizabeth's serious expression returned. "But if I had told you when I needed to, then –"
"Shhh," Will said and put a finger to her lips, duplicating her gesture. "That's behind us now. I don't want to waste time talking about it anymore than you do."
Elizabeth nodded as she eased her arms around his neck. "Now where were we?"
