To Ride the Waves

For disclaimers, please see the first two chapters. This story is developing a rather surreal tone, so don’t blame me you have been warned It’s probably going to earn that that NC-17 label next chapter.

As always,

"…" is speech.

*…* is thoughts

PJ: We’ll just have to wait and see what Elizabeth does or does not want/need. From what the muse has confided in me, Elizabeth does get both her comeuppance and her rewards by the end… course the muse was talking a lot of bollocks (that’s what Bacardi and coke does to it…) at the time.

Mercurial: When the slash gets written I hope you do like it. I’m still trying to talk the plot bunny out of it, but I think he’s scared of the muse… As for letting my mind return to the gutter… if I did that I’d never get anything written.

Will and Jack are in jail, Will for attacking Elizabeth, Jack for being a pirate. They’re waiting for dawn, when Jack will be hung and Will shot. Lots of angst. Elizabeth, then comes face to face with them after they have been hung. Are they cursed? Is it a dream? Is there a third option? Time to find out.

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Elizabeth ran through the streets of Port Royal, tears running down her cheeks as the reality of her actions sank in. She had killed them. She had killed them. Will may have been cheating on her, but he didn’t deserve to be hung for it. And Jack… Jack who had saved her, Jack who had cared for her. Jack who had risked everything for her. She had killed him too. She stumbled over the hem of her dress and fell to her knees as she sobbed her heart out. Above her the sky began to darken as a storm approached, hiding the pre-dawn light. In the distance, thunder rumbled and a distant flash heralded lightening. Save them. Save them. The words echoed around her mind as scrambled back to her feet.

Without really thinking about it, Elizabeth let her feet take her towards the jail, even though she knew they were already dead. Her thoughts were a swirling fog of random disjointed images and memories. There was something she had to remember… something about the dawn, something about Will. The memory came back to her of his corpse on the battlements, scattering her half arranged thoughts to the wind, sending them back into the fog.

And there it was. Two guards stood at the door at attention. Of course, the commodore would take no risks with Sparrow this time. He had escaped once to often.

Thunder crashed above her and lightening struck the wind vane on top of the jail, drawing Elizabeth’s eyes to it. She could almost swear she could see a face in the storm.

The Lightening crashed again and Elizabeth was looking at the forge where Will had once worked. Of their own violation, she moved forward. Vaguely she was aware that the smithy was on the other side of the town to the jail, but the thought would not stay in her mind. She reached the door and pushed it open. Inside, out of the rain, Elizabeth looked around. It looked the same as it always had. Thunder crashed and Lightening forked again. Two swords caught the light and reflected it, catching Elizabeth’s dazed senses.

Elizabeth stepped forward, moving towards the twin swords as it drawn to them. She reached up with shaking hands and took the first one down, drawing it from the sheath, she gasped at the blade. It was perfect, by far the best piece Will had ever made. She eyes ran up over the guard and she seen the engraving of a sparrow against the sun. Another flash of lightening and the pearls and ruby flashed. Thunder stole her gasp. Her eyes were drawn to the second sword and after carefully replacing the first one in it’s sheath, she removed the second one from its place. Thunder crashed again and Lightening flashed. Her attention was drawn to the window.

She knew what to do, stepping back out into the rain, she held the swords close to her chest she made her way across the town to the jail. A vague memory stirred that she had not passed this way to get to the forge, but it was drowned out in the thunder that rolled continuously above her and lightening forked across the sky, lighting her way.

Tucking one of the swords into the folds of her dress, she unsheathed the other one and slowly crept along the side of the prison building. At the corner, she looked around and ducked back. With skills she never knew she had, she crept along the side of the building until she had almost reached the guards, sliding the sword she still held out of it’s sheath as she did so.

She jumped forward, the sword slicing down and the first guard fell before he could turn. The second guard fell into a defensive stance. He yelled, trying to attract the attention of the petrol on the battlements, but she was already moving and his cry was lost in a roll of thunder. He caught the first slash on his bayonet, and tried to push her back. She spun to the side and he lashed out, trying to spear her, and she caught the blade with the sword. He tried to push her off again, but she had already drawn the second sword, flicking the sheath to the ground with a smooth move she had never learned how to do and slid it into him. He looked at her in surprise as the lightening showed her face.

Absently she cleaned the swords on the guardsmen’s uniforms and then found the sheath, replacing the swords. The she grabbed the keys and ran down the stairs, she had to get them out before they died. An image swarm to the forefront of her mind, Jack hanging at Gallows Point and she paused, wasn’t that a memory? The adrenaline was subsiding and suddenly she felt dizzy and not a little sick. Outside the thunder crashed loader then ever and the lightening flashed to earth, hitting the battlements and blowing a chunk of the wall into the sea.

Elizabeth didn’t remember moving forward, but suddenly she was standing outside the cell where Jack and Will were being held. Will was leaning against the wall and Jack was lying on the bed. The older man looked when she pushed the key into the lock and opened the door "Elizabeth?"

Without responding, Elizabeth handed him one of the swords. Will looked at her in confusion has she handed him the second of the pair. The two men exited the cell and Will looked at the woman he had loved for so long with desperation in his eyes. Before he could say anything, Elizabeth placed one finger to his lips and then replaced it with her lush, soft ones.

Into the kiss, she put everything in her heart, her love, her jealousy, her pain and her understanding. As they drew apart, Will looked into her eyes and seen the truth. This was goodbye. With one final look at her, the two men ran up the stairs and out into the driving rain.

Elizabeth hesitated at the bottom of the steps and thought she heard a voice in the storm,

Then she fainted.