A/N: So I know it has been a very long time since I have updated. I haven't forgotten my loyal readers and I am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that you have not forgotten me. During the fall, I felt a shift in where I saw this story going and some major plot points in my outline had to be readdressed. I have also been working on a novel on the side so things have been getting in my way. It is my goal to finish this before the sequel to the movie comes out this July, but I suppose we'll all just have to see. Regardless, I will not be keeping you waiting so long in the future for an update.

I am really hoping to see some comments, so please don't forget to let me know what you all think! I feel like I've been out of the pirate loop for too long :o)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jack let Elizabeth escort him back to his room, but his mind was on Anamaria. She had not even asked him how he was after the fight and it had been her honor he had been defending. As Elizabeth took a damp cloth to his cuts and bruises, his mind kept flashing back to that final white hot moment when her eyes had met his own before she stepped out into the night with another captain. What had she been thinking in that instant? Her eyes had most definitely not given her away.

"Jack? Jack?" Elizabeth insisted, bringing him back into the present.

"Ah! Yes?" he muttered, focusing his eyes on hers.

"Well? Don't you think you should take it off?" she asked.

Jack tilted his head, slightly confused at the turn in their conversation. He must have missed something important. "What?"

"Have you not been paying attention at all?" Elizabeth asked. "Your hand, it's beginning to swell. Don't you think you should take this ring off before it gets stuck?" As she tugged on the ring, Jack did recall having felt a similar sensation minutes earlier.

Embarrassed to have been so lost in his thoughts, Jack pulled the ring off in one hard tug.

"There you go," he said. "Now I trust that you will keep it safe for me," he smiled.

Elizabeth gave a small smile in return, "Sure Jack." She studied it for a moment before slipping it on her middle finger to find the fit surprisingly snug.

"It seems to fit you quite nicely," the pirate commented. "Perhaps you should keep it. Your husband always had a particular liking for it."

Elizabeth smiled, studying the green stone. "Where did you get it?"

"I can't tell you luv, a pirate never tells his secrets," Jack said, giving a small smile.

"Was William with you when you found it?" she asked, running her finger gently over it's polished surface.

"No," Jack said, his smile turning sad, "his father was."

"Oh," Elizabeth responded, "no wonder William found himself fond of it."

She tore her attention away from the ring and began tending to the cut across Jack's knuckles again. A rag dipped in warm water had removed the dirt and most of the dried blood, but the wound was still dripping red.

"Should I wrap it up for you?" she asked.

"No," Jack said, pulling his hand away from her. "It'll be fine when it scabs over. Nothing to worry over."

He had not been injured in the fight, but from the way that Elizabeth had been worrying after him, he would not have known. She had rinsed most of the blood away and with the exception of his hand, it was doubtful that anyone would have been able to tell he had been in even the most minor of scuffles less than an hour ago.

"Well, I guess you're going to be fine now," Elizabeth said. "Here's a dry cloth for that," she offered. "If you're not going to let me wrap it then at least keep it from bleeding in your bed."

Jack accepted the cloth, wrapping it loosely around his hand.

Elizabeth stood, "If you don't need anything else, I guess I'll be going…"

Jack reclined on the bed, propping his feet up on top of the sheets.

"Oh, let me get those for you," Elizabeth interrupted herself moving to pull Jack's boots off.

The gesture took him slightly by surprise. He was perfectly capable of accomplishing the task for himself, but as she worked to loosen and then remove his sash, he found himself enjoying having a woman like Elizabeth take care of him. At one point as she was untying his sash, she looked up only briefly to meet his eyes and the moment seemed, for a second, slightly uncomfortable, but then she had gone back to working at his sash and Jack dismissed the thought.

She placed his boots on the floor and wound his sash up to place it on the dresser. "Comfortable now?" she asked him.

"Very much," Jack answered. "Thank you Elizabeth."

"I'll be across the hall if you need me. Goodnight Jack," she said, blowing out the candles that flickered on his dresser.

Jack had only to close his eyes to fall into a deep sleep. He wasn't sure if it was minutes or hours later when he heard the door open again. Looking across the room, he could make out the form of a girl crossing the room. The deep sleep had been disorienting for him and he thought briefly that it must be Anamaria, come to make amends.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to be alone," came Elizabeth's voice.

Jack cursed silently. "That's fine luv. Come sit with dear ol' Jack. Let him know what's on your mind."

Elizabeth sat down beside Jack and he was surprised to see that she was only wearing her nightgown. It wasn't revealing, but it seemed out of character for her he thought, realizing that he had not seen Elizabeth anything but fully dressed since that morning she had made him pancakes. Apparently, the talk William had chosen to have with her that day had made an impression. He sat up, unable to help himself from hoping to get a better view in the moonlight. Unfortunately, however, he found the cotton too thick, allowing him to see nothing.

"I miss him Jack," Elizabeth whispered.

"I know," Jack said, instantly feeling guilty. "I miss him too. Some days are going to be worse than others, but you'll get through it."

Elizabeth was silent for a moment and then Jack saw a tiny tear roll down her cheek. "It's too hard."

"Now don't start that," Jack said, patting her thigh.

She leaned hard against his shoulder and without thinking he put his arms around her in a hug. "Shhh," Jack whispered in her ear, trying to comfort her as she cried in a scene that seemed almost all too familiar to the pirate. He placed a gentle hand on her back, rubbing it softly before moving to loosely run his fingers through her hair, all the while cooing in her ear. Eventually her crying began to cease.

"I'm sorry Jack," she said wiping her tears away with her fingers.

"No need to apologize," Jack said, brushing her hair out of her face.

"It's just, sometimes I have nights where my thoughts of him are too haunting," she said.

"I know," Jack said, his voice barely above a whisper. "And you'll never forget him," he said, still stroking her hair gently as he stared into her eyes, "but as time goes by, it will get easier."

Elizabeth shook her head, tears forming in the corners of her eyes again. "I don't know."

"It will," Jack said, convincingly.

"Why did I have to lose them both?" she asked, her voice cracking as she began to weep again.

Jack pulled her tightly into his embrace this time, rocking her back and forth.

"Hush, hush," he tried to calm her. A fresh batch of tears came that he would have thought impossible after she had only just finished crying so hard, but he continued to hold her. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally pulled away, wiping and rubbing at her red eyes.

"When the season for bad weather ends, I promise you I'm going to get you out of here and into a new life," Jack whispered.

Elizabeth blinked several times, meeting his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to get you a nice house, new clothes, give you a chance to start fresh and new," he smiled softly.

Elizabeth shook her head, her eyes growing wide, "Jack, I need to tell you something."

Jack's eyes clouded, showing his confusion. "Alright," he said hesitantly.

"I've been thinking a lot about this," she explained, "about when the time would come for me to go back to living what most would consider a normal life for me."

Jack was growing more confused by the minute, but he didn't interrupt.

"I know what I'm getting ready to say is going to surprise you and I hope I can get you to agree with me, but I want to stay with you. I want to be a part of the crew on The Black Pearl."

Jack didn't know what to say. The sincerity of her tone and expression had genuinely left him speechless.

"I have nothing to go back to Jack. You heard Norrington, I'm not even welcome in Port Royal," she started.

"I was thinking you could start a fresh life in the new colonies somewhere," Jack stated. "I would provide enough so that you'd never have to work a day in your life." He reached out to stroke her cheek very gently. "You could focus on putting your life back together," he paused, "possibly meeting someone."

"I don't want to start over Jack. I don't want to meet anyone new. If I can't be with Will then I'd rather be alone. I'll have nothing there, no friends, nothing. You are the only person I know anymore. You are the only person I feel that I can even remotely trust."

Jack was speechless again, reminded of the night on The Dauntless when they had both confessed their distrust of one another. So many things had changed over the last couple of years.

"I know you think that I will be a liability to you," she said.

Jack's eyes confirmed her thoughts although he said nothing.

"I won't be," she said. "William passed on some of his knowledge of swordplay to me. He was teaching me to fight. I grew up on a ship. You know just as well as anyone that I'm familiar with the workings of a tall ship."

"Elizabeth," Jack stopped her, shaking his head, "being familiar with the riggings of a ship and actually having to do the work required to sail one are two different things. I know you were raised on a ship, but standing in a dress on deck and looking pretty is a far cry from having to hoist the mizzenmast."

"I know a good deal more than you think about sailing Jack. If you don't believe me ask your fellow captain, Anamaria. She's seen my decisions regarding the handling of a ship during difficult times."

Jack was unsure of the reference. Anamaria had never mentioned anything about Elizabeth's sailing ability to him.

"Jack, this is something that I want very badly."

"I understand that Elizabeth, but if something were to happen to you, I could never forgive myself," Jack explained. "I promised William if anything were ever to happen to him that I would take care of you. I can't say that bringing you aboard a pirate ship as part of our crew would be taking care of you in his eyes."

"You wanted William to sail with you. Now that he's gone, take me on instead," she offered.

"Elizabeth, a woman's place is hardly on a pirate ship," Jack argued.

"You're a fine example to say anything about a woman's place on a ship Jack Sparrow. You have one of the most feared pirate crews in the entire Caribbean and you've put a woman in charge of the only other ship in your fleet. Don't tell me you don't think women belong on ships. I won't accept that excuse from you."

"Anamaria isn't like you Elizabeth," Jack started.

"Then maybe you just don't know me all that well because I don't see how we're all that different. She lost everything she had to come and be a part of a pirate crew. I've lost everything I had and now I'm asking for the same thing."

"She wanted revenge," Jack argued.

"Please Jack," Elizabeth's eyes pled with his own.

"If something were to happen to you," Jack started, but was interrupted again.

"It's my choice. It's what I want Jack, more than anything. I know how to fire a gun. I have a basic working knowledge of a ship. I've got a basic knowledge of fighting with a sword. If you worked with me some, I could be just as fearsome as any of the men on your crew."

"Somehow, I just don't see you as fearsome Elizabeth," Jack said. "And what would Anamaria think?"

"She should be glad for another woman's company I should think," Elizabeth said.

"You don't know Anamaria," Jack said.

"It doesn't matter what she thinks, Jack. You're the commodore. This is your ship, your show. You make the decisions."

"I'm going to have to give this a lot more thought Elizabeth. I can't promise you anything," Jack admitted.

"Just give me a chance. While we're here, train me with a sword. You'll see that I'm serious," Elizabeth said.

"You're not going to need those dresses if you decide to join a pirate crew," Jack said.

Elizabeth dropped her eyes, "I know."

Jack shook his head. "I don't know Elizabeth. I have a lot of doubts."

"I know you don't see me as a pirate Jack, but I know you think I'm smart. I know you think I'm capable of matching wits with you. I survived being stranded on a desert island with you."

Jack reclined on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, "And I don't recall you being happy about it."

"But I was the one who got us off the island. What would you have done if I hadn't been there? Drank yourself to death?" she shot back.

"I wouldn't have burned the rum," Jack said.

"Yeah, well, you'd probably be dead then. I saved our lives."

Jack was quiet for a minute. Elizabeth was making an interesting proposition. On one hand, he could never see her really being happy on a pirate ship. She was used to a fancy life. He doubted she knew how to lace on the bonnet, parry or thrust with a sword, and he could hardly see her eating the food he was accustomed to as a pirate. On the other hand however, Elizabeth was smart. She was hard working and this seemed to be something she wanted badly. She had a fiery spirit and he had seen her buck authority more than once. He found himself in quite a dilemma.

"Please Jack," she whispered again.

"I need to sleep on it," he started. "I'll work with you on your swordplay tomorrow and then we'll see. We still have a month, maybe more, before we'll be ready to sail again."

Elizabeth nodded. "I just want a chance to prove myself to you."

"We'll see," Jack said.

The two sat in silence for a moment and Jack found himself slowly beginning to drift back to sleep.

"Jack?" came Elizabeth's voice.

"Mmm?" he managed.

"I don't want to go back to my room," she whispered.

"Hmm?" he blinked several times. "Why not?"

"I just don't want to be alone."

Jack raised his eyebrows, trying to convince his eyes to open again. "Alright, well, do you want to sleep here? I'll sleep in the chair." Jack sat up, rubbing his eyes as he thought of another night of no sleep.

"No," Elizabeth said, touching his arm to keep him from standing. "I don't want to kick you out of your bed."

"It's fine," Jack said.

"Just let me lay here beside you for a while," she whispered.

Jack thought the request odd, but the opportunity to actually get to rest in a bed instead of a chair was appealing. He closed his eyes and felt Elizabeth lie down beside him. As much as he would have like to enjoy the thought of sharing his bed with her, he found himself falling asleep too quickly to properly give the situation any thought.