Elizabeth walked towards the beach on the island. She could see the Flying Dutchman on the horizon. As it got closer, she spotted Will on board. At the sight of him, she felt guilty...why? Before she knew it, he appeared in front of her. He could do that now, being captain of the Flying Dutchman. "Will!" she exclaimed, running up to hug him. The embrace was empty, he did not hug her back. "What is it?" she asked.
"I know, Elizabeth."
"Know what?"
"About your feelings for Jack."
Her eyes lowered in shame. Then she heard him mumble, "Speak of the devil." She turned around. There was Jack. He wrapped his arm around her, she shrugged it off. He cleared his throat, "Turner."
"Sparrow." Will uttered back.
"C'mon, mate. Don't be sore at me. I offer her more than you can."
Elizabeth could hear her heart pounding in her chest, it was too fast for her to keep up. Hanging her head, she heaved a sigh. Then she felt Will's hand on her chin, lifting her face to meet his. "You must choose, Elizabeth," he said with a smile.
'You must choose. You must choose. You must choose...'

Elizabeth woke up, breathing in gasps. She was crying. Her face was wet and sticky from her salty tears. She then realized where she was sleeping. In Jack's arms. Her right hand was resting on his bare chest, by the two bullet holes, she could feel the unsteady rise and fall of his breathing. Her head was tucked in the crook of his neck, she could hear his heart beating. His right arm was wrapped around her, when she turned her head she saw his hand on her shoulder, his emerald ring sparkling in the sunlight.

"Bugger," She whispered out loud. Normally she didn't swear, but she couldn't find a more perfect word to use in the situation she was in. She could just imagine all of the wisecracks she would hear when he awakened if he knew. Gently, she tried to free herself from his grasp. She shook her right shoulder, his hand fell. Removing her hand from his chest, she wiped the sweat off on her dress. She then ducked her head, sliding it out from under him, and sat up fast. He woke up.
"What's happening?"
"Uh...nothing," she then pretended like she was examining his wound, "you seem to be alright."
"Oh, good."
Seemed like he hadn't noticed she had been sleeping on him, "How do you feel?"
"Well...nothing, I can't feel anything. I can't even sit up."
"What?"
"I can't sit up, my whole left side is numb."
She laid her hand on his wound. Softly, she pushed on it, "Can you feel that?"
"A little."
"You should rest. But first, where are we?"
"Slader Island."
"Is there a town here?"
"Yes...Slader Town."
"Unbelievable. Is it a pirate port?"
"No. It's mostly civilized. But there is a pub run by pirates, 'Slader's'."
"You pirates...us pirates...whatever! I'm going to get help there."
"Help?"
"I'm going to get a ship whether by bargain or theft."
"Spoken like a true pirate king."
She blushed.
"You can't go in there in half a dress. And no one will give you a ship if you're a woman."
"Well, what do you propose I do, Jack?"
"Put on my shirt, hat, and jacket. You can borrow my boots too. Just wrap the jacket around your legs so I won't have to lend you my pants too."
"I'm going to have to put my hair up."
He pulled a string out of his hair and handed it to her, "Use that."
"All right."

She looked down at him. She wanted nothing more than to lay back down and be in his arms again. Then she remembered her nightmare and the wishful thinking stopped. Hoping it would never come true, she patted his stomach a few times and said soothingly, "Go back to sleep."
Standing up, she began to get into her disguise.

Jack stared out onto the open water. He enjoyed the breeze running through his hair. It was the perfect weather for sailing. And the Pearl was the perfect ship to take advantage of it. He felt a hand on his arm. Turning, he saw Elizabeth standing by him. She was wearing a flowing dress, looking beautiful. "Hello, darling," she whispered in his ear.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know why I married Will. I love you."

She kissed him, long and lingering. His fingers traced down her spine. When they split, he heard a loud bang coming from below. The Flying Dutchman shot out of the sea, water sprayed everywhere. Will appeared next to Jack, grabbing Elizabeth, "Thank you for the immortality, Jack. Now I can have her for eternity." Jack reached out to her, but he felt something pierce his heart...Will's blade...

Jack woke up screaming. When he opened his eyes, he saw Elizabeth, once again, kneeling over him, his hat donned her head. She stroked his cheek, "Jack! Jack, are you alright?" Her hand on his face felt surprisingly warm.
"I'm fine...you shouldn't scare me like that." That was close!
"I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry."
"Just don't let it happen again."
"Can you move yet?"
"I don't think so."
"Try."
"I am."
"Oh. Well, I can pull you over to some shade and lean you against a tree. You can wait for me there."

She grabbed his hands and started him backwards on the sand. He could feel his wound now. And it hurt. She laid him under a palm tree, gently leaning him against it's trunk. She then looked down at his wound, "My God, Jack!" He followed her eyes down to it. It was bleeding horribly...and is stung bad.
"Jack..."
"Don't mind it, love. Just go."

She bent her head down and blew cold air on it, "Does it feel better when I blow on it?" Oh, it did. But it was tempting him severely, "No, love, it only makes it worse. Just go." She stopped blowing on it and took off the jacket. She ripped off another piece of her dress and laid it on his bloody wound. The pain went away for a second, he laughed. She looked at him, confused, "What?"
"Nothing, love. You just look funny in my shirt. Men's clothes don't flatter you at all. You should wear a dress or nothing."
"You've said that before." She put the jacket back on.
"Have I?"
"Yes. I'm going to get us a ship." She stood up and started to walk away.
"Wait, you can't sail a ship on your own, no matter how short of a trip it might be."
She halted and turned around, "Watch me." She turned back and started walking again.
"Elizabeth!"
"What, Jack?"
"Town's that way." he said, pointing in the opposite direction she was heading. She turned around and started walking in the correct direction. He chuckled and closed his eyes, hoping for a better dream.

Elizabeth could see the town ahead of her...actually, she could see two towns. And they were moving back and forth. Now there was one. Two. One. She was dizzy. She grabbed the trunk of a palm tree and leaned her head against it. Her stomach was churning. She wrapped her arms around her waist, knelt down, and threw up.

It continued for about ten more minutes. Her vision cleared and her breathing became reasonable. She picked herself up and started walking, there was one town again. She wiped the sweat from her brow. It must have been the sun that upset her stomach. Like yesterday. Plus, she was nervous. That had to be it. 'Bad time to get sick. Especially since I'm about to go on a new adventure.'

When she finally entered town, she looked around for the pub Jack had mentioned. Suddenly, a woman walked up to her, her eyes were wide and filled with passion, "What can I do for you, you handsome devil?" The woman stroked Elizabeth's bangs. Elizabeth tried so hard not to throw up again, "You can tell me where Slader's is. The pub." She tried to use her best male voice. "Ah, yes. Slader's. That's my nighttime job." The woman's breath smelled of rum and fish. She turned and looked behind her, pointing down the road, "Just walk down there and look to your left. You'll see the sign." "Thank you, ma'am." Elizabeth, almost running, glided past the woman and headed in the pub's direction...at least she now knew that her disguise was believable. She kept walking down the road and looked to her left. "Slader's," she read the sign aloud, then added, "in the town of Slader, on Slader Island...bloody pirates." She laughed, shook her head, rolled her eyes, and walked inside. Her plan was to find the most drunken pirate, hopefully unarmed, and...persuade him to give her his ship. She tapped Jack's pistol in the jacket's pocket.

It was madness, complete madness! Noisy, rough, dark, and crowded. People were fighting each other, chugging rum, arm wrestling, and doing other unmentionable things. Elizabeth felt like she was in Tortuga all over again. By the look of the town outside, she would have never guessed this chaos was inside. She glanced around the room, looking for the helpless victim she would rob. She spotted him in the back, sitting at the corner table, talking to a vase of lowers, "You are all pretty ones. If you were all women, I'd be a lucky man. But you're not, don't take it personally, please. Women never listen to me as well as you do. You're nice folk."

Elizabeth tried to hold back her laughter as she walked towards him. Slamming her hands on the table, she looked the man in the eyes and shouted in her masculine voice, "What's your name, sir?" The man stared at her in bewilderment and answered, "Actually, I don't remember, but these beautiful flowers have been calling me Wayne."
"Well, Wayne...how would you like to be a rich man?"
"I would like that very much, sir." His eyes lit up in excitement.
"You are already a rich man, Wayne."
"I am?"
"Yes. See these flowers?"
"Yes."
"These are magical flowers, they tell the future. And I gave them to you so you can sell them and get rich. Would you like that, Wayne?" Elizabeth crossed her fingers, hoping he would fall for it.
"Thank you, sir!" He jumped up and hugged her tight.
"Shh! We can't let anyone know, they might try to take the flowers." She tried to calm him down. He let go of her and replied, "Oh, I see."
"But, I was wondering, Wayne, could you give me something in return?"
"Of course...er, what's you name?"
"Uh...Barbossa. Hector Barbossa."
"Anything, Hector. You name it!" Wayne took another swig of rum.
"Can I have your ship in return for these magical flowers?" Elizabeth motioned towards the vase.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Wayne exclaimed, clapping his hands.
"All right, you can keep your flowers. Which ship in the dock is yours?"
"The Sea Dog. Enjoy, mate!" He jumped up and hugged her again.
"No problem, sir, good luck with your flowers."

Elizabeth left the pub, smiling. She had a ship that she didn't even have to fight to get. Or use physical, harmful persuasion. Her hands were clean in this. She looked down at them...well, figuratively. 'Wait, hasn't Jack said that before?'

When Jack woke up it was still daylight. Elizabeth wasn't there. He looked down at his wound and removed the cloth. He noticed that the blood had clotted. He held the cloth in his hand...Elizabeth had ripped it off her dress and she had no so much as complained about taking care of him, doing all she was doing. He felt like a fool, having to have a woman watch out for him. Like a child again, helpless, weak...he didn't like it at all.

He gazed out at the sea. It was calm today, the way he hated it. He liked a challenge, something to work on. Suddenly, he heard the creaking of a ship's boards. He's heard that sound many times before. Grabbing onto the trunk of the tree he had been leaning on, he pulled himself up and hid behind it. There was a ship out there. He wanted to get out his spyglass, but Elizabeth had it inside the jacket. Squinting, he tried to make out if it was a Company ship. It wasn't flying any colors, so it had to be a pirate ship. Something caught his eye, someone on the ship was waving at him. Elizabeth. He came out from behind the tree and limped to the water.

Elizabeth let down the gangplank and it landed in the water. Walking down and taking off his hat, she said, "See, Jack, I told you I could sail a ship on my own." She handed the hat back to him and started pulling his jacket and shirt off of herself. He put them on and uttered, "Looks like a pile of floating wood, if you ask me. What's it called?"
Elizabeth took off his boots, "The Sea Dog."
"Should be called the Shame of the Sea." He slipped them on.
"You said, 'get a ship'. I got a ship."
"That you did."
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine!" He shouted angrily, the thoughts of helplessness coming back to him.
"No need to snap." She looked hurt.
He rolled his eyes, sighed, and apologized, "...sorry, let's go."

They walked up the gangplank together and readied the ship. "Set sail for Tortuga." Jack commanded.
"You mean Curdy." Elizabeth corrected.
"What?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Curdy. We have to fetch the chest first."
"Oh, all right. Set sail for Curdy."
He took a hold of the helm and steered it in the direction of Curdy.

When they docked at Curdy, Elizabeth grabbed the chest, "Thank you, Jack." she said, smiling at him as they started to board the ship again.
"For what?"
"For letting me come back to get Will's heart."
"I told you I would."
"I know, I just didn't think you were telling the truth."
"I've been doing that most of the time I've known you, yet you're always surprised"

Elizabeth chuckled as they continued to board the ship. Jack took out his compass and started limping up, following her. The needle circled around, then stopped. He looked up in the direction it was pointing...right at Elizabeth, "Not again...bugger."