An Eye for an Eye, A Kiss for a Kiss

A/N: Hey there! Thanks to all of you for following this fic and reviewing :)
Seems we are coming to an end, eh?

Here's the newest update. Warning! Angst and drama!

Enjoy...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHAPTER 16 "All Good Things Come to an End"


Elizabeth's heart was pounding and she could feel cold drops of sweat roll down her trembling body. There it was, the sign, right in front of her dumbfounded face: their palm tree, obviously damaged by the earth shaking thunder that had woken them up last night.

"Jack, is this your doing?" she stretched her hand toward the burnt trunk.

"Well, the heart plus our initials, yes. I had nothing to do with the rest, though." he gave her a carefree smile.

"How can you joke about something so deadly serious?!" she asked in a shaky voice.

"I don't understand why I should consider it serious, not to mention deadly. We've had a storm last night and as you definitely know, darlin', they all come with lightnings, thunders and-"

"One of them hit our tree!"

"Why, thank you! You took it right out of me mouth," he grinned.

"Don't you really see anything peculiar in it, Jack?"

"And that would be?"

"You don't even ask yourself why it necessarily had to be OUR palm tree? The very one with our initials inscribed in a heart?"

"Did you?"

"I don't need to ask myself to tell that the thunder did not pick our tree by accident. It's a bad omen!"

"Is it? Sounds interesting, but to me it doesn't look like a sign from heavens, Lizzie."

She shivered at his words, unable to make a sound.

"The thunder hit it only because thunders tend to be attracted to anything tall, and as our palm tree is, or rather was, one of the tallest trees on our island, it seems to be a simple and obviously the only reasonable reason."

"What if your reasoning is wrong and it IS a sort of warning for us? No matter what you think, to me it looks like a message from God."

"Who knows, could well be that the Almighty had his hand in it and stopped the thunder right here, inches from the heart." he pointed to his artwork.

"I can't praise your theory as convincing," she said, confident that God's hand had not stopped the thunder but had actually sent it.

"Didn't you notice, 'Lizbeth? The tree has been split into pieces, burnt. Why the hell would the thunder stop just before the heart? Wouldn't the heart with our initials be destroyed in the first place, were it indeed a bad omen for us?"

She would love to believe in his assumptions but couldn't. As opposed to him, she had asked for a sign that night and she believed to have just received it.

"Jack... could you please leave me alone for a while? I need some time on my own."

"Are you alright, luv?" he frowned, taken aback by the impact the situation had on her.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. I just want to spend some time alone, take a long stroll and think things over..."

"As you wish, 'Lizbeth. Till later, then..." Awfully troubled by her sudden change of the mood, Jack moved slowly in the direction of their humble encampment. She sounded so saddened. So strangely cold and distant. He couldn't comprehend why Elizabeth was taking such trifles seriously.

"Women!" he shook his head.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Concerned, Jack gaped at the evening sky becoming crowded with all possible shapes of forboding clouds, turning darker with every passing minute. Why Elizabeth hadn't come back remained a mystery. He would have started searching for her long ago if not for her distinct request that kept coming back to him like an echo, reminding him to respect her wish to give her some time alone with her own thoughts.

"What for heaven's sake is she contemplating that long? Dimensions of the universe, perhaps? The sense of human existence?" he sighed.

"The sense of our relationship..." he answered himself, angrily throwing another thick branch into the cracking bonfire. A gust of cold wind whirled the embers up high into the skies and Jack watched the little sparks dance and glow only to die out seconds later, consumed by the darkness.

"Isn't it methaphoric?" There was so much fire and passion within him and her, letting them reach unknown hights and glow... Sadly, there was a strong resemblance between their relationship and the short life of the whirling embers...

His thoughts continued to pace around Lizzie, as he imagined her slim, lightly dressed silhouette shaking from the piercing cold. She was somewhere out there all alone and weeping over some useless, burnt tree. He was kicking himself for getting the ridiculous idea of being romantic and marking the place of their little tryst with his knife.. Maybe if he hadn't done that, she wouldn't have made such a big deal out of it? Oh, who was he trying to fool. She would have still noticed that it was their tree, anyway...

"Cursed palm tree!"

Another huge problem that wouldn't let Jack restore his peace of mind was the weather, evidently boding ill for them. His instinct supported by vast experience told him that it would turn catastrophic within a day or two, and to their unfortune, they were trapped on this island until Gibbs would come back to pick them up.

"One day too late, as it seems," he mumbled resignedly.

Jack's dreadlocks waved in the puffy wind and at last he decided to leave his warm place by the bonfire to look for Elizabeth. He was willing to give her three more minutes of her deeply desired solitude and that was it. Jack shifted nervously after counting up to hundred and twenty. It was going all too slow.

"Alright, luv. One more minute and I'm bloody coming for you whether it is to your liking or not!"

To his contentment, the last minute passed much faster than the previous ones. "...thirty, fourty, fifty, sixty! So Lizzie, that was it."

"Excuse me?" asked a familiar voice behind him.

"Oh, Lizzie! How was it?" he stood up and moved closer to her.

"How was what?"

"Your afternoon stroll, luv. Or rather the-afternoon-to-nightfall stroll."

"It was fine." she gave Jack an artificial smile, disappointed that he didn't even bother to look for her. He must have spent his entire time sleeping or warming his hands by the bonfire, not caring for her whereabouts.

"And long," he noticed. "I was just getting ready to search for you."

"Oh?" Was he reading her mind? It was obvious to her that Jack was lying to save his face.

"Here." He put his coat over her trembling form and they sat as close to the fire as the wind allowed. Jack handed her a palm leaf with a chunk of roasted fish and a hot mixture of orange juice and fresh water. Without hesitation, she raised the coconut shell to her mouth and soon her empty stomach was filled with delicious warmth, radiating to all parts of her body. How glad she was to be back here with Jack...

None of them said a word for the next few minutes, and they found the unusual silence between them awkwardly disturbing. Lizzie couldn't think about anything else than their damaged palm tree but did not wish to mention the uncomfortable subject anymore. Luckily for her, Jack finally found his voice.

"Lizzie...If I recall correctly, you wished to know how I marked that wigged dwarf, Lord Beckett. Do you still want to hear 'bout it?"

"Yes, I'd love to," she said absently, her mind still preoccupied with the sight that had shocked her so much. If only his story could distract her from the disturbing thoughts... A sign or not, she would give anything to forget what she had seen, give their relationship a chance and let life flow as it pleased.

"One night, after making a deal with Jones and getting me dear Pearl back, I paid Beckett a visit. Firstly, I picked the branding iron from his office where he always kept it at the ready, immersed in the embers of the fireplace. I then sneaked into his bedroom and found him sleeping, which needlessly to add, gave me an upper hand. I uncovered his puffy pink duvet, getting ready to brand him, only to discover that he sleeps with his wig on."

"He does?" she almost giggled.

"Yes, but there's more to this story, Lizzie. I found out that our dear friend was not interested in women..."

"I imagine your judgement to be based on the absence of a woman in his bed?" she chuckled.

"Nay. But still, I could tell that he preferred men."

"What made you think that he did?"

"First of all, he slept in a gown, Lizzie. A long, white dress decorated with lots of lace and ribbons. Men who prefer women don't wear womens' clothes, luv."

She rolled her eyes and smirked. " Jack. It's quite common among high society men to wear such sleeping gowns. Even my father used to wear one!"

"Oh yes? Did he also go like 'Oh, yes Mercer... Ahhh, do me hard!' ?"

"Well... no..." she shook her head in shock. "Please, stop being disgusting, Jack."

"I'm only quoting what came from Beckett's mouth as he was waking up from his kinky dream, obviously taking me for his admirer and begging me to do him. He stirred in his rose-scented bedclothes and I had no choice but to knock him unconscious. Figured he would have made too much noise if I didn't. I couldn't risk being caught by the guards."

"And? Have you marked him?"

"Sure I did. A nice 'P', right on his left cheek."

"Even the thickest coat of powder wouldn't cover that, and I swear I've never seen a tiniest scar on his face."

"Not that cheek, luv." he cocked his head, flashing her a golden grin.

"You branded him on his... backside?!"

"Precisely there, Lizzie. Marked Cutler like cattle. I also left a note with my regards, to let him know whom he owed thanks for such a... sophisticated tattoo."

"What a pity, that no one will ever see it," she sighed with disappointment.

"I'm sure that Mercer did. Or rather does, every time... you know." He cleared his throat.

"I can't help but wonder.Why didn't you just kill him, Jack? You missed a perfect opportunity to take your revenge."

"Good question, luv. I suppose there's simply too much of a gentleman in me."

"Not always." She smiled, although she knew that he was right claiming to be a rare example of a gentleman among the buccaneers.

He gave her a questioning look, furrowing his brows.

"Don't you remember how you threatened me with a chain? That wasn't very gentlemanly, I'd say?"

"Time and tide, luv. You know very well that I only had those two options: threaten you and escape, or die a gentleman."

"You put your pistol to my temple, Jack. Do you even know how much you scared me?"

"Scared you? Was it really that hard to guess that I was bluffing? Would I have bothered to save you from the watery grave only to shoot you down as soon as you started breathing?"

"Alright, let's assume that you indeed had no other option. What about other occassions when you were not forced to behave ungentlemanly?"

"I don't recall such," he answered with confidence.

"Well, I do. For instance, everybody knows the story of Victoria Brightmore, the young Governor's wife of Kingston. Many have seen her broken and weeping when she arrived ashore, after being freed from your hostility."

"Ah, Vicky..." he swallowed the rest of his orange juice.

"Yes. The poor abducted girl, who spent five days and nights aboard your ship, frightened to death."

"Now, that's new to me," he mumbled under his breath.

"The only thing speaking in your favour is that you released her untouched."

"Unharmed." he corrected her in his thoughts, preventing a smirk from appearing on his lips.

"Pirates do such things, Lizzie. Never heard of it?"

"Kidnapping is a part of your occupation and I don't question that. Sick greediness however, is another thing. Victoria's family offered you an unusually high ransom in schillings and gold and yet you refused to free the girl. Why?"

"Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by the generous amount the old governor was ready to pay and I was all set to free his wife."

"Why didn't you? Did you plan to test her family that continuously gathered in Kingston's docks to pray for her life? Wanted to see how much she was worth to them?"

"No, luv. Like I said, I was very satisfied with the first offer, and planned to let the lass go. It's just that someone persuaded me to do otherwise."

"So you are now trying to put the whole blame and responsibility on someone else? Were you not the one in charge, Captain?"

"Even the Captain can be influenced. Especially by a charming young lady."

"Who was it? Your first mate, Anamaria?"

"No. She was not a member of my crew at that time."

"Then who? Who on earth made you change your mind?"

"Victoria Brightmore herself."

"Nonsense!" she huffed. "Mrs. Brightmore wanted to go free and come back home to her husband!"

"That's what everybody thought that she wanted. In reality she had some... different sort of wanting, so to speak."

"Did she... no, that's impossible."

"What?"

"Did she want to rob her rich husband and share the ransom with you? Has she planned it all out and cried on her homecoming only to cover things up?"

He chuckled, and scratched his chin. "Nice try, Lizzie, I'll give you that. I always knew you were a smart lass. Very smart indeed, but unfortunately I must disappoint you. Victoria didn't want to share the ransom with me."

"Then what did she want?"

"To share me bed, darlin'. And being a gentleman in every inch that I am, I couldn't refuse her. Everytime a new offer of ransom would come, I wouldn't accept it, claiming it wasn't enough. Until good five days later I was informed by my crew that Kingston's Navy apparently decided to take the deadly risk and was getting ready to attack me ship. Up for an inevitable battle, I chose to accept the highest ransom I've ever heard of, and let Victoria go. That's the well-kept secret behind the wrongly interpreted story that only proves me a gentleman. In fact, I would have been a hell of a bastard to let her go right on the first day. Savvy?"

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows and opened her mouth in shock. "You are lying, Jack! She was married and therefore, wouldn't be willing to remain in your cabin, not to mention your bed, while her husband waited for her at the residence, fearing for her life!"

"I doubt that he gave a damn whether she would come back or not, luv."

"What an inconceivable absurdity! They cared so much for each other!"

"Appearances are often deceitful, Lizzie. Their allegedly happy marriage was all a matter of good acting, having nothing to do with reality."

"Did she tell you all this?"

"She told me, that she was eighteen when her parents forced her into the marriage with the rich and influential Lord Brightmore; an elderly man who could in fact have been taken for her grandfather. There was no love in that relationship, no friendship or respect either. As years went by, they learned to truly hate each other - and keep up appearances so nobody would know the truth about the marriage. Nobody but the two of them knew that after seven years together the lovely Victoria was still a virgin."

"Their marriage was not consummated?"

"Correct. Old Brightmore was incapable of fulfilling his marital duties and Victoria actually thanked God for that every single day. When I took her hostage she was five and twenty and still untouched. The lass suffered too much in her young life and I decided to help her."

"Meaning: decided to use the opportunity to satisfy your lust."

"I do admit that she was visually appealing, but it was all her own idea, luv. Victoria was not willing to die a virgin, therefore she asked me for help."

"So you call that help?"

"What else?"

"Do you know how women who "help" men in such a way are called?" she winced.

"You're going over the top,'Lizzbeth."

"I'm only letting you know my opinion on your "helping". You used the girl and then kicked her off your ship. Left her heartbroken in the docks, sobbing because of you. How could you?!"

"Wait a minute. Didn't you just scold me for not letting her go earlier?"

"Yes, but now I have a full picture and I know what she felt. A gentleman wouldn't have taken the gold and dropped her like that, but sailed away with her!"

"I should have taken her along? Oh, God forbid!" he gestured lively with his hands.

"It's obvious to me that it was exactly what she expected, but you bitterly let her down."

"I did not. I never promised her anything more than to make her a woman. I didn't love her."

"Oh, I guess I forgot that to you women are only pleasant adventures and she was just one of them."

"Lizzie, you don't even know Victoria, so please do not judge me. She had the beauty of course, but that alone wouldn't make me fall for her and keep her on me ship. A spoiled princess who values her castle-like residence and material riches more than her freedom would never find a place in my heart. Yes, she did find place in me bed, but that was all. I do not fancy shallow, mendacious lasses."

"How can you claim that she preferred the riches to her freedom ? You didn't know her either."

"How? From her reaction on our farewell, when I adviced her to leave the old chum. Their marriage was invalid right from the wedding day, for it had never been consummated. She was still childless after seven years of being his wife and could have easily gotten annulation papers from the church. Vicky could have been free to live without the old goat and look for the love of her life. That, however, was not an option for her. She loved her title and wealth strong enough to sacrifice her happiness. I guess that her tears later in the docks only showed how hurt she was by my ruthlessly honest remarks. Plus by the fact that our pleasant adventure had come to an end."

"Oh, I should have figured. That's nothing new, it's always the same after all. All good things come to an end, don't they?"

"Don't start again, Lizbeth. We quarrelled enough about my past romances and I consider the topic closed."

"Well, YOU do."

"Just what did you expect from me to do me whole life, eh? To live in celibacy until the day I die? I'm not a nun and I've never pledged chastity. I'm a man, Lizzie and that is why I did not refuse Victoria but helped her with pleasure!"

"Of course. Because you are a male whore, Captain Sparrow!"

His blood boiled at her words but he didn't let it show. No, she will not get the satisfaction to see him hurt and aching.

"I'm a hundred percent of a man, luv, as opposed to a certain eunuch that you befriended. Although, it's quite understandable for you not to have an idea of a real man, having wasted so much precious time with that whiny whelp, a pansy who was bethroted to you for one full year and neglected you severly."

"Will is not a pansy!"

"Who if not a pansy would act like William, eh? He had a saucy wench such as yourself at a stretch of a hand and his cock didn't even stir. A walking disaster, says I," said Jack and stood up to add more wood to the fire.

"A wench?" she jumped to her feet. "That would be a VIRGIN!"

"A former virgin, dearie." He smiled cheekily. "Or have you forgotten how you begged me to give you what that cold fish face had failed to? Forgotten how you moaned and screamed when I was inside you? How you begged me to take you and never stop?"

"Shut your filthy mouth, wretch! And leave my fiance' out of this!" Tears were filling her eyes and she was unable to stop them.

"Fiance'?" he smirked "Oh, how could I forget. You have me bloody blessing, future Mrs. Eunuch!!!"

She stepped forward intending to slap him but to her dismay, Jack grabbed her hand with a wicked smile.

"Pathetic. Thought you were capable of more than that."

"You'll need some extra golden teeth once I'm done with you!" she yelled, curling her other hand into a fist and aiming a blow at him, but he imprisoned it as well. To her shock, Jack pulled her close to him and claimed her mouth in a demanding kiss. She struggled at first, considering biting him but her body decided otherwise and, disgusted, she found herself kissing him back. He was aware of having that power over her and hell he knew how to use it. Flushed and breathless, Elizabeth glared daggers at him, when he broke the kiss and released her sore wrists.

"I despise you!!!" she said through her gritted teeth.

"Yes, your kiss has just shown me how much," he replied amused, a roguish grin etched across his devilishly handsome face.

Elizabeth turned away from him, as hot tears rolled down her reddened cheeks. She needed to be alone now, and luckily there was still the hut, where she could stay on her own. After all, it was highly unlikely that Jack would come over to sleep beside her, after the fight they had just had. Still sobbing, she entered their cabin and covered herself with the coat, which didn't make her shake any less from the all-consummating cold. Lizzie slid her shaky hand into a pocket of Jack's coat and her fingers came across several objects. A few coins, a folding knife, a bone bracelet and a tiny bottle sealed with a cork. She suspected it to be the famous mixture against insomnia, that Mr.Gibbs had once told her about. Not only Jack but also his first mate as well as several other members of his crew used Tia Dalma's concoction when troubled by insomnia on land. Was it indeed Calypso's wonderful herbal mixture? She hoped it was. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to calm down and sleep that night. Lizzie opened the glass container and took in the strong scent. She recognized valerian in the rich bouquet of aromas and decided to take only a pinch of it, unsure of how strong the powder was. Before she could even think of closing the bottle, she saw bright spots dancing in front of her eyes and dropped on the ground unconscious.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


She opened her eyes woken up by the howling of the wind. Her hand reached blindly for Jack, but to her surprise her beloved wasn't around. First then Elizabeth recalled the horrible quarrel they had had last night. All the events of the previous day seemed so surreal, as if it was all a nightmare she had just awaken from.
Reminiscing the nasty things that she had said, she took it for granted that it was over between them. She remembered referring to Will as her fiance' and felt a lump in her throat. She regretted saying this most. Even more than calling Jack a male whore... Why did she hurt him so much over and over again? Was it her subconscious self acting this way to quit their liaison and save her the pain she would have suffered in the future? She had gotten the sign after all. Or had she not?... Was it Jack who had gotten it right, after all, with his simple, scientific explanation?

Tears flowed down her cheeks again, but this time she wiped them away, determined to forget her fears and unease. She was going to leave it all behind, pretend never to have seen the burnt tree, forget about Jack's past and give their love a chance. Time would show if he really loved her and stayed true to her. No matter what had happened, she loved him too much to let him go.

"Jack?" she called his name, emerging from the hut.

The wind scared her. Cold and merciless, it was blowing away parts of their fragile cabin, the heavy graphite clouds hanging dangerously low. How much she wished to be somewhere else now! There was no sign of Jack as far as an eye could see. All that came to her view was the smoke from the dying bonfire and fresh footprints...She followed them with haste, only to discover that they were ending in the sea. The view to the horizon wasn't clear due to thick fog, that did not reveal much. Apart from the black canvas looming on the horizon. Elizabeth froze...


She woke up terrified and covered with cold sweat. The dream was devastatingly real. Breathless, Elizabeth felt the urge to get some fresh air and left the shelter on her wobbly legs. She squinted her eyes expecting blinding sunshine but soon opened them wide at the sight of the darkish sky crowded with ghastly clouds. On her left were the smoking remnants of their bonfire, the rough sea in front of her.

"Jack!!!" she called out petrified, her voice breaking.

Like in her dream, she received no answer. Running, she followed the fresh footsteps left on the clean, sea swept sand, stopping abruptly as they disappeared in the stormy element. Disclosed by a half transparent foggy curtain, there it was. The Black Pearl shrinking into the distance...



~The End~



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So, that would be the end, savvy??? Liked it? Hated it? Loved it? ^^

LOL, I can almost see your dumbfounded faces and hear how mad you are at Jack^^

NO WORRIES, MATES! I WAS JUST JOKING :) THERE WILL BE ONE MORE CHAPTER! I SIMPLY CAN'T LET THE STORY END THIS WAY :P

Chapter 17 will be the last one and is coming soon :D

HUGS,

addictedtojack