FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
31—REUNION
DISCLAIMER: Jack'n'Lizzie etc. do not belong to me. I make no money from the writing of this fan-fiction.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! They mean so much to me. I'd also like to apologize for the last few chapters… I haven't really been writing to the best of my ability lately, but I pledge to all of you (the most loyal group of readers a girl could ask for) that I'm turning it back around again. Anyways, thanks again for your lovely reviews! On with the chapter!
Rosalind's muscles ached with a burn she had never known before. Being the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, she was hardly accustomed to hard work of any kind. She'd been raised a proper young lady, however, such an upbringing did not stop her from forming her own ideas and opinions. Still, she never thought she'd be completely alone off some desolate looking island in the middle of the Caribbean somewhere, with hardly any supplies or survival skills to rely on.
She barely even knew how to swim, which made getting to shore an interesting challenge. She'd managed to acquire some Will's outgrown clothing, but it was still a bit too big for her, and she was convinced as she flailed around in the water that it would pull her right down to the bottom of the ocean. She muttered any curse she could think of regarding the French tradesman who had refused to bring her any closer, but she'd do what she had to. She couldn't let Will die after all he'd done for her and she had to find Elizabeth and Jack…
The journey here (wherever here was) hadn't been easy… For the most part, her disguise as a young man had held up, but there had been several instances where she swore that the men on the trading ship were leering at her. Not to mention she had absolutely no experience fighting for herself, so she mostly kept her mouth shut and tried to stay out of the way. She couldn't wait to find Elizabeth… she couldn't wait to feel safe again.
She couldn't describe the ridiculous joy she felt when her feet made contact with the sandy floor. She began to wade out of the water to the best of her ability; considering her petite, slender frame, the waves did a considerable job at making the task a difficult one, but she finally made it to shore and almost collapsed upon stepping onto the dry sand. She cast an angry glance over her shoulder towards the dinghy that had not rowed her to shore only to see that it had already made its way back to the ship, which was now retreating towards the horizon.
The Black Pearl had been visible from the beach from almost a mile away, which carried its own jubilant feelings of euphoria, but now that she was this close to it she felt oddly haunted. The beach and ship were desolate with not a soul in sight. The only sounds that could be heard came from seabirds flying by overhead. Where was everyone? Why was the Black Pearl moored on the ship? What had happened?
An uneasy feeling washed over her as she forced her heavy, tired body forward.
"Captain Sparrow!!" she cried, the loudest decibel her voice would allow. "Elizabeth??" She paused, looking around… the expansive ocean stretched out behind her, a dense, ominous jungle before her… an open beach to one side and an abandoned ship to the other. "Perfect," she muttered, wondering what to do next. The wealthy plantation's daughter buried beneath the thick, tough façade she'd built for herself over the past several weeks was crying inside. She wasn't cut out for this. She felt utterly hopeless and was ready to plop down into the sand, frustrated, tired and alone, when a faint pounding noise caught her attention.
Rosalind spun around, checking all directions, wondering where the sound had come from. "H—Hello??" she called. "Who's there?! I demand you show yourself!!" she shouted, hoping her voice didn't sound as hesitant and shaky as it did inside her head. Still, there was no answer, but the noise persisted. She stood silently for a few moments, her hand gripped on the cutlass she'd borrowed from Will's shop (even though she hadn't the faintest idea how to use it, despite the blacksmith's best efforts to teach her).
After several moments, she caught the direction the sound was coming from and her dark eyes drifted upwards toward the large windows of the captain's quarters. Her heart fluttered with unexpected joy and her eyes widened with unsuppressed shock to see Elizabeth, frantically banging on the window with the flat palm of her hand.
"Elizabeth!" Rosalind cried, nearly jumping with the sheer delight of seeing one of the few true friends she had left in this world. "Elizabeth!! Elizabeth, I've come to find you!!" She could faintly make out her face from her spot on the beach, but she could just see her frowning and shaking her head, as if Elizabeth couldn't hear a word she was saying.
"What are you doing up there??" Rosalind nearly screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth in an effort to amplify her voice. "Are you locked in?!" She put special emphasis on each and every word, but Elizabeth still looked puzzled. After a brief moment, Rosalind watched, confused, as Elizabeth disappeared from sight.
Rosalind stood there with as much patience as she could muster and five minutes had yet to pass when, suddenly, a small washstand came crashing through the window. The sound had startled her and her heart pounded against her chest, her arms thrown over her head for protection, but when Rosalind finally heard Elizabeth's familiar voice, she looked up to see her leaning over the open hole that had once been filled with glass. A pile of broken wood lay in a heap not more than six feet away from her, and Rosalind momentarily wondered how Elizabeth had mustered the strength to hurl it towards the window, when she heard her shouting to her.
"Rosalind!" Elizabeth cried. "What are you doing here??"
"I came to find you!" Rosalind shouted, shielding her eyes from the rays of the sun with her hand as she looked up towards the window… or lack-thereof. "You and Jack, that is! It's Will, Lizzie, he's in trouble!"
Elizabeth frowned. "What sort of trouble?" she shouted back, before frowning again and shaking her head. "Never mind that now…! You can explain everything to me when I get down there! I'm going to fasten a rope out of the bed sheets and climb down!"
"Have you been locked in?!"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, her nostrils flaring in exasperation. "Yes!"
"Well, where's Jack!!"
"Jack's responsible, the bloody coward!"
"What??"
"Just hold on! I've done this before, it won't take long!" Elizabeth once again disappeared from sight, leaving Rosalind to wonder exactly when her friend had gathered the experience of composing makeshift ropes from bed sheets. True to her word, in just under fifteen minutes, Elizabeth appeared at the window again, this time hurling her new rope down towards the ground. It missed the beach's surface by five or so feet, but it would have to do.
Before Rosalind could warn her friend against any broken shards of glass or urge her to be careful, she was brazenly climbing out of the window and making her descent towards the ground.
Elizabeth grunted with the strain of hoisting her body weight downwards, but Rosalind encouraged her as she went until Elizabeth reached the end of her rope. "Now what?" Rosalind called up to her, still shielding her eyes from the sun.
"I've clearly been spending too much time with Jack!" Elizabeth called back. "I find myself rushing into things without thinking them through…" Rosalind would have laughed if she weren't so concerned with Elizabeth falling and breaking her neck. "I'll just have to drop the rest of the way!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Rosalind shouted. "You could break your leg… or your ankle! Or both! You could break your neck!"
"Nonsense! It's sand, how painful could it be??"
"You have been spending too much time with Jack, you're completely fearless!"
"That's not true!" Elizabeth shouted. "I'm not completely fearless… I'm just braver than I used to be." She hung on to her rope silently for a few moments before allowing herself to look down towards Rosalind. "Well if you refuse to let me drop, then what do you suggest I do??"
"I'll have to catch you!"
Elizabeth outwardly laughed her suggestion. "And you were concerned about me getting hurt! Rosalind, if I land on you, then we'll both get hurt and that won't do us any good!"
"Nonsense!" Rosalind cried with a smile and a wink, echoing Elizabeth's previous sentiments. "You might as well just drop, we're wasting time!"
"Fine!" Without even counting to three, Elizabeth dropped downwards and Rosalind winced as she stood forwards, opening her arms in a vain attempt to catch her. Her attempt was vain indeed as they both screamed, Elizabeth landing on top of Rosalind and sending them both to the ground, sending up a hefty wave of sand as they went.
"Is anything broken?" Elizabeth asked quickly, crawling off Rosalind and kneeling in front of her.
"No… no, I don't think so." When Rosalind sat up, rubbing her sore shoulder, Elizabeth was smiling broadly at her.
"You're not hurt?"
"No, I'm fine," Rosalind replied. "Though the same can't be said for your washstand…"
"That's fine. Jack hardly used it anyways."
"Oh. Well, good, then."
The two sat there silently for a few minutes, just grinning with relief, glee and a plethora of other emotions before they hugged and laughed like giddy children who'd consumed too much sugar.
"You're beginning to sound like him," Rosalind said as they pulled apart from one another.
"Dear God, let that not be true," Elizabeth sighed, placing both hands on either side of her face.
"Where is Jack, anyways?" Rosalind asked, looking over her shoulder towards the dark, leering jungle. There'd been no sight or sound of Jack (or anyone else, for that matter) during the ludicrous commotion they'd made and Rosalind was beginning to wonder if something serious had happened to the captain and his crew.
"I have no idea…" Elizabeth replied, shaking her head. Her tone suggested anger and frustration, but Rosalind could see a genuine hint of worry in her tea-colored eyes. "…but if he's not hurt or in trouble now, he will be when I get my hands on him."
"Oh?"
"I'll explain later. It's not important now. How's my father, is he alright?"
"Yes, yes, he's fine. But I'm afraid it's Will, he needs our help."
"Yes, you said so. What's happened?" Elizabeth asked, slowly rising to her feet and pulling Rosalind onto her own.
"He was arrested… actually, both of us were."
"What?" Elizabeth asked in a unstructured mixture of shock, worry and horror. "On what charges?"
"Conspiracy… aiding and abetting a wanted criminal, to name a few… two counts of it."
"It's for helping Jack… then Jack and myself…"
"And there's a warrant out for both of you. Issued by the king and implemented by Lord Beckett."
"Cutler Beckett?" Elizabeth's eyes widened, a slight wave of nausea washing over her at the thought of such a man achieving such a lofty title.
"Yes. He's got Will locked up in prison and unless I do as he asked, he'll rot there until death claims him."
"What does he wish you to do?" Elizabeth asked, her cheeks now hot with anxious worry and her heart pounding a little harder in her chest.
"He wants Jack's compass…" Rosalind's face contorted with puzzlement. "Though he refused to explain why. If I'm to fetch it for him, he's promised a full pardon for the both of us and Jack is to receive full employment as a privateer."
"And Will goes free?"
"Yes."
"But Jack has to stay on land," Elizabeth said quietly, mostly to herself. She suddenly felt saddened, her mood dampened with despair.
"What?" Rosalind asked. "Why?"
"It's a long story, I'll explain it all later. Right now, let us just focus on finding him." Elizabeth took a deep breath in through her nose, trying to welcome to overwhelming sense of dread that was creeping through her at all that was falling apart. Had she known her hasty departure with Jack would have caused so many lives to crumble… Rosalind's, Will's, James'… she might not have left with him. But the thought of being without him hurt more than anything else combined. She didn't know what she'd do without him… or how she'd go on should anything happen to him… despite how angry she was, she still loved him with all her being.
"Where do we start looking?" Rosalind asked as the two took hands, both palms sweaty with a mixture of unwanted fear and apprehension.
"I haven't the slightest idea. Jack locked me away for a reason, though, so we'll need to be careful." The two started to walk towards the jungle, the daylight starting to disappear as they made their way forward. "Though his motives are completely unclear, I don't doubt that he has reasonable ones."
"You've spent quite a bit of time with him, I gather…" Rosalind said, a coy smile on her face as she and Elizabeth climbed over a fallen tree. She grimaced as her boot slung into a pile of unidentifiable muck.
"Yes," Elizabeth said, her cheeks blushing. "Quite a bit of time."
"Elizabeth Swann!" Rosalind exclaimed, noticing her friend's sudden embarrassment. "Have you two been… intimate??"
"Now, now," Elizabeth said, trying to muster up courage for her tone and failing miserably. "I might be a pirate, but that doesn't mean I kiss and tell."
"You've kissed?!" Rosalind nearly shouted.
Elizabeth smiled, temporarily forgetting that she was so absolutely furious with her captain, the mere thought of his lips… his rough facial hair… his calloused hands running down her sides… his… his everything… sending her into a dizzy, drunken-like stupor. But before she could indulge Rosalind's overactive imagination, she heard a fast whooshing sound and something sharp and painful pierced the back of her neck.
Her surroundings began to go fuzzy and she felt her knees buckle as she collapsed towards the ground. Before she could register what the hell was going on, she heard the rustling of bushes and Rosalind's frightened screams as everything went black.
A/N: Muahahaha! A lovely cliffhanger! (Though not really 'cause, come on, we've all seen the movie…)
Thanks for reading, now go review! See you all next time!
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