When Elizabeth was on deck again, the crew was lined up. She stood at the end of the line, next to Ragetti. Everyone stared at her, like she was a stranger who was not welcome. She pulled her hat down a bit, hiding more of her face. Barbossa came over and stood on the other side of her. Out of the corner of her mouth, she asked him, "What's going on?"
"Jack be wanting to say something to the crew."
"About what?"
"I'm not sure. Perhaps something that happened during the storm."

The look he gave her then made her freeze. Their kiss? 'Could that be it? Oh, God.' Her palms began to sweat, along with her forehead. As they stood waiting for Jack, she could see what the storm had really done. The mast laid on the deck like a fallen tree. Splintered wood was scattered all over the place. In some areas, it looked like a creature had taken bites out of the ship. 'Calypso, why did you do this?'

Elizabeth titled her head to speak to Barbossa again, "Where did we make port?" They were docked at an island she'd never been before, which wasn't saying much since she hadn't been to many islands.
"Cutterby Island. Tis a safe haven for pirates, thankfully. Although, I still be suggesting ye keep yer brand hidden."
"Uh-oh." She looked at her bare are. Her "p" was as obvious as Gibbs's love for rum.
"Aye."
"Bugger," she swore.
"Watch yer language," he teased.
She rolled her eyes. "Where's Jack?"
"He went to the shore to find help."
"Oh."
"There he is."

Jack walked up the gangplank, carrying a sack filled with something. Elizabeth eyed it suspiciously. He stood in front of the crew with Gibbs. She blushed just looking at Jack. She held back her tears, knowing that she wanted nothing more but to kiss him again. He turned his head and glanced at her. She ducked her head and looked away. Then, he spoke to them all, "Gentlemen...and lady, we've docked at Cutterby. Luckily, it is a relatively safe place for us to be. As most of you may already know, and can plainly see, we are in desperate need of serious repairs. Since we've been carried here, we've really no where else to go. Aside from all that, I have some good news: Robert Stanson is in town temporarily." The pirates whispered among themselves. Elizabeth asked Barbossa, "Who's Robert Stanson?"
"Master shipbuilder. He has no problem helping pirates. Make this ship as good as new, he can."
"Oh. Good."
"Only problem is, he charges a lot more for the likes of us."
"How rude."
"Used to work for the Company. Word around the sea is, he was committing too many crimes to be considered an officer any longer. He was dishonorably discharged. Says he's retired."
"I see."

Jack stood in front of Cotton, who was at the other end of the formation. Jack walked down the line, like he was inspecting his unit of soldiers. As he strolled, he spoke, "I am not one to give money for a job I can very well do myself. So, I have a feeling we're going to have to...convince Mr. Stanson to help us for free." Elizabeth asked, "You mean...persuade him?" He turned his head and smiled at her, "Exactly." Putting more quickness in his step, he stopped in front of her. Her heart started beating really fast. "Mrs. Turner, do you think you can persuade Mr. Stanson to repair our vessel?"
She scoffed, "Of course! Just give me a sword and I'll convince him to help us...or I'll have to slit his throat!"
He scowled. "Elizabeth, Let's not frighten the poor man. Gibbs and I were hoping you might persuade Robert in a more...friendly way."

As he said this, Jack reached into the sack he was carrying and pulled out it's contents. A dress. A very revealing one. Elizabeth connected the dots, "You want me to...wear that...and persuade him? Jack, be serious! I'm not doing this!" It's neckline plunged more than the waterfall at World's End. The material was tight-looking. It was a dress fit for a...wench!
"Captain Swann, let's not forget a certain event that occurred a certain time ago when I ended up in a certain place of certain punishment that a certain someone sent me to after betraying me a certain way. That certain someone owes me."
"You're blackmailing me!"
"I'd rather call it...encouraging you." He shot her a seductive grin.
"You're...despicable!"
"Sticks and stones, love."
"Elizabeth," she corrected him, glaring.
"Whoever you are."

Elizabeth frowned at Jack. He just kept smiling. She yanked the dress from his hands, growling, "Fine, I'll do it. Not because you asked me to, but because I want to get to the Fountain of Youth as soon as possible. If this is the only way, then so be it." "You may change in my cabin." He pointed the way, as if she didn't already know. She stalked off, hearing the pirates chuckling as she left.

In the cabin, Elizabeth murmured about how ridiculous she felt. She kicked off her boots and began undressing. The Pirate Legends book fell out of her shirt. She laid it on Jack's desk. As she stepped into the dress, her injured shoulder pulsed. When she pulled the dress up, she looked at her stomach. She could almost see it becoming more round. As she was pulling the dress over her chest, someone charged into the cabin. It was Jack, yelling, with his hands over his eyes, "Not looking! Not looking! Not looking!" "Jack!" she screamed, pulling the dress over herself so fast, she didn't have time to put her arms through the sleeves. He asked, "Can I look now?" "No!" Carefully, she put the dress on the right way...but someone was going to have to fasten the back. She groaned, "You can look now. I need your help."

The dress was a dark green with black lace on the hem and bust line. The sleeves were long, so they covered her brand. The lace on them made her wrists itch. In the green, there were small black diamonds splashed onto the skirt. It was a pretty dress, Elizabeth decided, if it didn't make her breasts almost pop out of the top. The material was extremely tight, reminding her of the one she wore the first day she met Jack. He had saved her from drowning and she'd awakened to his handsome face looking staring down at her...she shook off the memory.

Jack took his hands off of his eyes and looked at Elizabeth. He almost fell backwards at the sight of her, but grabbed onto a chair to stabilize himself. She grunted, "Can you button the back?" She lifted her hair up and turned her back to him for easy access. She heard him walk forward and felt him start to button the dress. "Jack, we need to talk."
"We do?"
"About what happened this morning."
"What happened this morning?"
His breath on her bare back made her feel faint. "Between us. We-"
"We what?"
"I...you...we...you know what I'm talking about!" He was just being difficult to poke fun at her, she could tell.
"I do?"
She felt his cool breath again and it made her bat her eyelashes. Her knees began to tremble. "Jack, we kissed!"
He finished buttoning the dress, then took her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him. Stepping back, he examined her, asking, "Again?"
"Yes, again! This morning! On the deck! During the storm!"
"Was I any good?"
She breathed in heavily and snarled, "Jack!"
"I just can't seem to recall kissing you again. Not since the day you viciously slaughtered me."
Swallowing the lump in he throat, she managed, "Jack, what-"
"Elizabeth, nothing happened."
"But-"
"No," he held her hands, saying, "Nothing happened."
"Jack-"
"Elizabeth-"
"We shouldn't pretend. We can't pretend."
"Yes we can. Nothing happened."
"I don't want to."
"You don't want to pretend like nothing happened?" Something shimmered in his eyes.
"Fine, Jack. Nothing happened."
The shimmer faded. "Nothing."
"Nothing."
"Absolutely nothing." He dropped her hands and headed for his desk.

Elizabeth watched Jack rummage through piles of plunder and papers. He seemed to be searching for something. "Found it!" He held up a silver box of some sort in the air. It was no bigger than an average sand dollar. He flipped open the lid and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. Gesturing to a chair behind her, he commanded, "Sit." She seated herself on the wooden piece of furniture, admitting, "I haven't worn a dress in a long time. I feel strange."

Jack rubbed the handkerchief onto the kohl and bent down to Elizabeth's face, She asked, "What are you doing?" He smiled, "Just adding a touch of Jack to your ensemble." Lifting the cloth to her face, he wiped the black under her eyes. She looked up at him, muttering, "I swear, Jack, if you look down my dress, I'll make you wish you were back in Davy Jones's Locker." That made him laugh, "Don't put ideas in my head, Mrs. Turner." He finished under her eyes, then told her, "Close your eyes." She obeyed. He rubbed the handkerchief back onto the kohl, then wiped it on her eyelids.

As she breathed, he felt it on his neck. It made him want to kiss her again. He had decided to pretend that what had occurred that morning had never happened so that Elizabeth would feel better. He could tell that she felt bad for kissing him, and he didn't want her to have to live like she had. It was obvious that she had just let her guard down, and that was the only reason she'd done so. However, he had done it because of the way he felt about her. He understood now that he could never be with another woman unless it was Elizabeth. Now that he knew such a woman existed, all the others seemed dull and colorless. Insignificant. The one woman he truly wanted, was take. Just his luck.

Jack finished rubbing kohl on Elizabeth's eyes and snapped the container shut. He stuffed the handkerchief and case in his jacket pocket and stood up straight. "Open your eyes." There they were. Big. Brown. Beautiful. Long lashes. The kohl complimented them. "How do I look?" she asked, standing up. She turned full circle, then stopped so he could reply. "You look..." Ravishing? Gorgeous? Irresistible? What word was he allowed to say without crossing any lines? He could only think of: "...like your ready." She raised an eyebrow at him.

Then Jack remembered something else. He went out and got the sack he had been carrying and brought it back in. He pulled out the purse that had come with the dress. Elizabeth took it from him and put her hand through the strap. She posed. He pointed out, "There's a small dagger and some shilling in there, just in case." "Well, she replied, "I think I am ready." He led her out the door, to the deck.