Title: As Legend Tells
Rating: PG/K+
Originally posted: 6th June 2012
Originally written for: florencia7 – 'Fifteen Minutes by Robbie Nevil'
Notes: n/a.
She dreamt of him, long before they ever met, when he literally dived into her life head first. She felt she knew him long before that day and by the time he put in an appearance and proved to be all she could want, she was ready to take the plunge herself. It had all begun so long ago, inside her mind, her fierce imagination refusing to leave her be.
It was not proper for a young woman to want to read so much, but hiding her interests from the world was not so difficult. As a child she was encouraged to believe in fairytales, in which she might one day play the role of princess. It was not what Elizabeth Swann aspired to, to be known and loved and honoured for her beauty or her particular genteel manners. Not that there was anything wrong with the way she looked, of course, and she should not wish to be anything but what she was, but she always hoped to escape her fate that had seemed sealed too long.
A lady, a princess, a woman of substance, all these things were dreams society held onto for her, but not that Elizabeth longed for herself. If she must be known, be loved and revered, let it be for an achievement made, for some heroic act or moment of true glory in the face of adversity. She longed to go out in the world and make her mark, but never saw a chance for that freedom to come.
The pain was more than that which her bindings inflicted, the panic rising in her chest from so much deeper than the simple fear of a proposal she must accept. Norrington was a good man. The veritable ravine between their ages was no problem to Elizabeth, and he was respectable in rank and looks, but she could not love him. Though she had lived always under cover, under strictest care and confidence, her heart was free as a bird, and her soul longed to fly far away.
The day they met, she got her chance. Captain Jack Sparrow was legend itself to her, she had never once fancied he might soon appear in her own life, and to save it all in one fell swoop. As she gasped through sea water and the world swam into focus, her eyes met his, kohl-rimmed and astonished by her apparently, and she knew this was her moment. Her time had finally come.
Will Turner was a good man, as good as Norrington in many ways, though not half so suitable for Elizabeth's hand, as far as her father and so many others could see. They did not realise he would be but a poor substitute for her too. Elizabeth longed for an adventure she prayed her friend the blacksmith might be able to conjure, but still she read her tales of pirate glories and longed for more, never really believing she could have her hearts desire until that day.
An adventure on the high seas, it was all she really hoped for, and though she always thought she would be satisfied to return home again after such a freedom, she might have known it would never do. Though some might remember cursed gold, the undead, and imminent danger at every turn with distaste and panic, Elizabeth thought nothing of these things. This was a life she could live, a life she would always crave to live now she had tasted it, and with a man she could love beyond all others.
Others might think she could have no clue what she was doing, Will had said that very thing to her, and yet she did know her own mind, did believe in the move she was making, and the consequences were all she craved. Jack must be saved at all costs and in his saving, Elizabeth would find real freedom at last.
The blacksmith played his part, and the Governor too, though he could not have known it until the last. When Jack was excused and Elizabeth given her moment to say goodbye to a friend, many a Naval officer looked on as the couple shared a glance that meant only one thing.
"'S been quite an adventure, Lizzie," he smirked, not even looking back for a moment at those they would leave behind forever.
"It is only just beginning, Jack," she assured him, bracing herself as his arms wrapped around her waist and they dove off the edge together.
They might have shouted in panic behind her, Elizabeth never heard a word as together her body and soul went into free fall, safely protected by the literal man of her dreams.
In the years to come, they would overthrow Davy Jones, release Calypso, and begin and end a war with those considered unbeatable. In the end, they would sail away into the sunset as happy couples always do, Captain Jack Sparrow and his lady, Elizabeth Swann, legends that the world would always remember for their famous acts of piracy and heroics both, but ever more so for their incomparable love story that was destined from the very beginning.