To Love Another

To Love Another

Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or any of the original characters or storyline, Disney owns all. The only things I own are the things that are not mentioned in the Movies, so please do not sue!

Summery: Pirates of the Caribbean 3, written my way for all you JE shippers. Just incase the third film doesn’t go our way, at least in my World it does. Hopefully a bit of something for everyone in here so R&R!

Authors Note: Hey Guys, this is my first ever fic and not just on Pirates… in general, so I would be so grateful if you could give me some feed back on it… Please review my Story.
And to those of you who have already reviewed, thanks… you know who you are! Keep reading…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 5,Troubled Thoughts!

“Bugger!” Jack leaned back slightly, hands planted on his hips as he stared at the slimy tentacle caressing his beloved pearl.

“Jack, how on earth did all those ships and the Pearl get here?” Elizabeth asked in a quiet voice not taking her eyes of the sight before her, Jack dragged his gaze from its disgusted contemplation of the slimy beastie fondling his ship and glanced at Elizabeth as she stood besides him, “At a guess, I say that there tentacle answers that question!”

At Elizabeth’s confused look he continued, “You see we know only to well that the Pearl was a victim of the Kraken, I’d guess that the other ships suffered a similar fate before being dragged back here to what must be its home port, so to speak, for some sort of nest or what not!”

Elizabeth turned to stare at the wrecked ships piled below her, “Do you think we could fix her?” she asked, hope sounding quietly in her voice, “The Pearl I mean!”

A quick smile tugged a his lips as he snorted, “Oh, fixing her aint the problem luv, with all that timber just lying around down there we could probably fix a whole fleet of ships given time, our problem lies in what to do once we have fixed her, I don’t think our over grown playmate down there would take to kindly to us just sailing off with one of its toys!”

“So what do we do?” Elizabeth questioned one hand clutching on to his arm as her fingers started to unconsciously caress his skin, “Jack that ship might be the only chance we have at ever getting of this island!”

Jack didn’t answer her straight away as all his attention was focused on the hand that was gently stroking his arm, at the first contact of her hand on his bare skin, tingles had shot up his arm and it had been all he could do to stop himself from jerking out of her reach, as he forced himself to stand still and apparently unconcerned heat seeped up his arm and through his whole body starting in the area were her thumb was tracing small circles just above the pulse point in his wrist.

Its just been to long with out a woman that’s all, he tried to reassure him self silently, surprised at how strongly such a simple caress was affecting him, pull your self together Jack before you make a right fool of your self, it aint as if she’s got her hands down your…

Jack cut this line of thought off as he noticed certain parts of his body, that should really know better, start to sit up and take an interest in the thoughts flitting through his brain, but he was lying to himself and he knew it so with an effort of will he pulled his brain back up into his head and out of his breaches as he tried to remember what it was she had just said, “Oh I don’t know luv, with how many ships there are down there, there must be at least a few with some rum on board, if push comes to shove you could always set fire to it again!”

Elizabeth yanked her hand off his arm and glared at him, “You are never going to let that drop are you?” she accused.

Jack turned towards her looking down his nose as he pretended to think for a moment, “Err… No!” and so saying he turned and marched off in the direction they had come from.

Elizabeth stared after him in irritation, “Jack, now where are you off to?” she called after his once more retreating back.

“Back to the beach luv, its best we tell the others what we’ve found before doing anything else!” he shouted back to her without stopping or even looking over his shoulder, she threw her hands in the air, “Bloody pirates!” she muttered to herself under her breath as she set of in pursuit. “Jack wait up!” she yelled after him as another thought hit her, she realized that she still hadn’t gotten an explanation out of him for his sudden departure down at the pool.

~ * ~

Will looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms, his thoughts and feelings in turmoil, how could she be real? How could he be sitting here holding the unconscious form of the girl from his nightmare, and if she was real did that mean the rest of it was as well?

Will did not want to think about that, and how did she know his name, the way she had smiled at him, and spoken to him was as if she had known him for years, and what on earth was he going to do with her, she was in obvious need of medical help, water at the very least.

Will glanced up and down the deserted beach running a shaky hand through his hair hoping for inspiration, the only thing he could do was carry her back to the others and hope that Jack and Elizabeth had found water; medical supplies were too much to hope for.

Carefully he shifted her battered body trying to lift her as gently as he could only to realize just how hard it was to lift a girl wearing only a thin and very wet nightgown without touching places no gentleman would ever consider touching on a lady that was not his wife, the fact that the soaking gown clung to her like a second skin wasn’t helping either, blushing furiously he tore his eyes away and picked her up in his arms being very careful were he put his hands and started back the way he had come keeping his eyes glued to wear he was going.

Thankful that the gown only clung and was not totally see through, and if he realized that his eyes did in fact wander back to the girl cradled in his arms more than was necessary he chose to ignore it.

Will walked for what seemed like forever before finally spotting some of the crew up in the distance, Will glanced down at the girl in his arms and quickly did a double take as another blush graced his features, frowning he glanced up at the pirates ahead of him blushed even redder and looked down at his burden, if he was noticing just how much the gown was clinging it was absolutely certain the crew would, the thought of the crew leering at her gave Will a strange unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Still frowning Will stopped and carefully lowered her to the floor before shrugging out of his coat and wrapping it around her carefully arranging it so it covered as much of her as possible, satisfied that he had done all he could to stop the crew getting an eye full, he picked her up once more and made his way over to the others who had started to notice his approach and were standing watching him, obviously wondering what he was carrying.

“Hay Will, what you got there? Good lord! Is that a woman? Were did you find her?” asked Gibbs, peering curiously at the girl in Wills arms.

“Tied to a piece of broken mast back that way, she’s in a bad way, I think she’s been in the water quiet a while!” Will looked hopefully around the small campsite the men were hastily assembling, “Are Jack and Elizabeth back yet?” at Gibbs questioning look Will continued, “They went to find fresh water, I was hoping they would be back by now, we really need to get some fluids into her and soon!”

Gibbs frowned in confusion as he looked at Will, “No son, the Captain and Miss Elizabeth aint come back yet, but I thought they was with you?”

Will shifted uncomfortably under Gibbs questioning stare, “Er… no I sent them on with out me, and there was something I needed to do!”

Gibbs gave Will a strange look, “Right, well then, all we can do for now is get her out of the sun and wait for the Captain and Missy to get back, and pray that when they do they’ll be bringing water with em, for all our sakes not just the lassies there!” was his only comment.

Gibbs glanced away, “Ere, this will do, just put er down under ere, it’ll keep the sun of er at least!” he told Will, motioning to a rickety looking lean to that the crew had just finished erecting out of branches, palm fronds and bits of drift wood they had managed to find.

As gently as possible Will placed the unconscious girl down on the soft sand in the shade provided by the small lean to, being careful to keep his coat wrapped firmly around her and softly trailed his fingers down the satin smoothness of her cheek before standing and turning to Gibbs who was trying to peer over his shoulder, “What about you, did you manage to find any sign of the ship?”

“Well not exactly…” replied Gibbs rubbing his chin, “We did manage to find bits of it, some of the wreckage washed up about a mile in that direction!” Gibbs gestured off long the beach behind him as he spoke, “What we did find though was some crates and barrels of food that haven’t been to badly damaged by the sea, plus we were lucky enough to find the one thing that just might save our lives!”

Will stared at him in hope “What you found another ship? A, a… town, away off of the Island?”

Gibbs grinned at Wills excitement, and then frowned suddenly “No, what made you think that, what we found was two whole cases of the finest quality Rum!” Gibbs said, a large grin lighting his face once more.

For a few minutes, Will just stared at him in disbelief, “But you said you found something that could save us!” he said at last.

“Aye, that’s right!” Gibbs nodded.

“So what was it?” Will asked through gritted teeth, trying to hang on to what little remained of his patience.

“Well, the Rum of course!” Gibbs finally clarified in obverse confusion.

“The Rum! What do you mean, THE RUM! How’s that supposed to save our lives?” Will yelled at Gibbs.

“Because Captain Jack, with out a source of rum at hand, is shear bloody murder that’s why!”

Will gaped at him in disbelief. “You’re kidding me right?” he finally spluttered.

“Trust me Will, a sober Captain Jack Sparrow is not something you want to spend time with!” and so saying, Gibbs slapped Will soundly on the back and turn to make his way back over to the others shouting orders as he went that the crew completely ignored, not even bothering to look up as they continued with there appointed tasks.

Shaking his head and grinning reluctantly, Will watched Gibbs walk away he thought of lending a hand but as he glanced back at the girl lying unmoving behind him, he brushed the thought aside. Carefully Will sat down next to her, pleased to see that her breathing was strong and regular, what did worry him was the pallor if her skin that had a faint tinge of blue around her lips which were dry and cracked.

Breathing a heavy sigh, Will stared off along the beach once more getting lost in his troubled thoughts, unaware that his hand was gently stroking her hair.

Crashing and rustlings coming from the forest pulled Will out of his thoughts and he looked up in time to see Jack come cannoning out of the undergrowth with Elizabeth hot on his heels, if Will didn’t know better he would say it looked like Jack was trying to run away from Elizabeth and that Elizabeth, determined to catch him was in hot pursuit but that was ridiculous, why would Jack run away from Elizabeth.

He watched as Jack came to a sudden halt shading his eyes from the brightness of the sun after the shadowed gloom of the forest, catching sight of Will, Jack threw a look over his shoulder at the rapidly approaching Elizabeth, who Will saw wore a scowl like a thunder cloud on her face and hurriedly made his way over to where Will sat under the rickety lean to.

Jack opened his mouth to say something then obviously changed his mind as he caught sight of the girl lying next to him, “Where on the seven seas did she come from?”

Confusion and dislike warring in the look he cast at the girl besides Will, Will frowned at the look and at the tone of Jacks voice, “I don’t know but I found her tied to a piece of broken mast that was floating just off shore back down the beach, do you know who she is? It sounds as if you know her!” Will answered, moving closer to the girl protectively as Jack scowl deepened at his answer.

“Oh aye, I know her alright, and I know her filthy lying scheming brother even better, he’s the reason I sport this here lovely scar!” Jack growled flashing the P that was branded on to his wrist, “That lovely lady you got there is none other that Kelasin Beckett, Cutler Beckett’s younger sister, if you want my advice you’ll throw her back were you found her and forget you ever saw her!”

Will looked at Jack in shock “Are you sure?” he questioned at last.

Jack gave Will a withering look, “About which part are you questioning the accuracy of what I say, not that it matters, as the answer is yes to both, yes you should throw her back and yes she is that bastards sister, in fact I’ll even do you a favor I’ll throw her back for you, how’s that?”

Will scowled at Jacks words, “Come on Jack, you don’t really mean that, just because her brothers a bastard doesn’t mean she’s a bad person too, plus she’s hurt, she needs our help, we cant just leave her to die no matter who she is!”

“Fine, we’ll help her but don’t come crying to me when you find all the thanks you get is a rope around your neck!” Jack huffed.

Will gave Jack a considering look, “But that never stopped you doing the right thing did it, after all you were nearly hung twice because you helped me and Elizabeth, once after you saved her from drowning and after you saved me and the others from Barbosa and his undead crew why is that Jack?”

Jack chose to ignore that suddenly finding the toe of his boot absolutely fascinating.
Feeling he had made his point Will decided to change the subject, “Look Jack, she’s in a bad way she really needs water, did you manage to find any?”

Casting one last final disapproving look at Kelasin, Jack sighed and looked back at Will “Aye we found water alright, quite a pool back there, I’ll gather a couple of the lads and what ever they managed to find that can hold water so just sit tight I’ll have some back to you in no time, oh and by the way Willy boy, you found her, you took her in, so she’s your responsibility, savvy?”

So saying Jack turned back to the crew shouting instructions to a couple closets to him who quickly scrambled to obey the orders barked at them by an obviously irritated Jack, Will frowned as he watched the Captain stomp off back to the forest, he had a feeling that a lot of Jacks displeasure was not caused solely by the sudden appearance of Kelasin, his eyes then sort out Elizabeth confusion clouding his eyes as she quickly looked down avoiding his gazes, a look of shame crossing her face as she turned away from him.

Will snapped his head round to stare in sudden understanding back at the forest that Jack had vanished into then back at Elizabeth mentally kicking himself for being a fool, from the looks of Jacks sudden bad temper and Elizabeth inability to look him in the eyes it seemed some thing had happened between them while they were alone, and now Elizabeth at least was feeling guilty, he really needed to talk to her and explain that it was alright, it should of occurred to him sooner, as it was Elizabeth thought she had betrayed him again.

What an idiot he was, how was he ever going to get them together if they both thought Elizabeth still belonged to him, he also knew that he had been putting this off deliberately, as long as he didn’t say it out loud part of him could still believe it wasn’t true but the minute he spoke to her that would be it he would be able to deny it no longer and Elizabeth would be truly free to follow were ever her heart took her.

With a last look at Kelasin, Will pulled himself reluctantly to his feet steeling himself against the pain what he was about to do was going to cause him, walking over to her he dropped down to sit besides her, Elizabeth continued to avoid looking at him just sat and stared out to sea, they sat together in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes as Will tried to figure out what to say, Finally deciding that no matter what he said it wasn’t going to be any easier Will finally spoke, “You love him don’t you?” he asked with out looking at her.

There were a few moments of stunned silence then, “NO Will! No, you’re wrong! There is nothing between me and Jack, nothing, I love you!” Elizabeth babbled, fear and worry marring her voice.

Will smiled ruefully, “Then how did you immediately know who I meant? I never mention Jacks name!” he pointed out reasonably.

Elizabeth blushed at this “Well of course I knew you meant Jack, who else would you mean certainly not Gibbs, and your wrong, I don’t love Jack he’s just a friend nothing more…”

“Elizabeth!” Will said quietly, “I know about the kiss!” Elizabeth turned to stare at him in horror, “Will I swear its not what you think, I was trying to save us, the Kraken was after him not us, I kissed him to distract him so I could chain him to the mast, I’m not proud of it, I’m more ashamed than you can imagine especially as I realize now that Jack would of stayed behind anyway, he never had any intention of leaving the Pearl, it was selfish and stupid, I hurt him and you for nothing, Will please believe me I’m sorry really, I never meant to betray you, I love you, only you!” Elizabeth sobbed in desperation.

“I wish I could believe that Elizabeth,” Will hissed at her, “You kissed him I saw you, how could you, he’s nothing, he’s… lower than dirt, he’s nothing but a filthy lying swindling, lazy, stupid, murdering pirate who’s only interest is himself, hangings to good for him!” Will watched in satisfaction as anger replaced the sadness on Elizabeth face.

“Will how can you say that? You know Jacks a good man for all he’s a pirate, he’s saved us more times than I can count, he is always thinking of others, and didn’t you hear me when I said he was going to stay behind any way, he was going to…”

What Elizabeth was going to say trailed off as she saw the small sad, gentle smile Will was giving her, all trace of his anger off before had vanished, “You love him Elizabeth, would you be so quick to defend him other wise, especially to the man you are trying to convince is your only love, and I know why you kissed him, I saw the kiss and later at Tia’s, she explain what had happened, I don’t know how she knew but she did, she said I needed to know if I was to help you at first I thought she meant help you find Jack but later as I watched you on the ship, as I watched you grieve I realized what she meant, you love him Elizabeth!”

As Elizabeth listened to him, tears grew in her eyes and slowly trickled down her face as she shook her head, “NO, Will your wrong I don’t…” but Will cut her off.

“Elizabeth, can you look me in the eye and honestly, HONESTLY, say you want to marry me, that if I could wave my hand and spirit us off this island and have us back in Port Royal with all the charges against us dropped leaving all this and everyone behind INCLUDING Jack forever, that that is what you want most in this world, that you would be happy spending your life as nothing more than my wife and mother to our children, can you honestly say that. I’m not asking you if you love me, I know you do, what I’m asking you is if you love me enough, if you love me as a woman loves the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with!”

Elizabeth stared at him, tears streaming down her face. “Will I…” once more Will cut her off.

“Be sure of your answer Elizabeth, be honest, not just with me but with your self, think what your answer will mean if you say you really love only me, we will say no more about it, as soon as we sort this out we will be married as we planed, so be very sure Elizabeth, it would kill me to spend the rest of my life watching you stare out to sea and wonder if you were regretting your decision, if every time your gaze turned to the sea you were longing for another, don’t ask me to do that Elizabeth as it would surly kill me, it’s far kinder to end it now!”

Elizabeth continued to stare at him, several times opened her mouth as though to speak only to close it again. Finally she turned away from him, burying her head in her hands, “I’m so, so, sorry Will… so sorry! I never meant for this to happen, I never wanted to hurt you, I, I just don’t know how this happened, and I do love you, I do, it’s just your right, it isn’t enough and I don’t know why!” she sobbed; finally she raised her head and looked at Will tears forming a shinning river down her face. “I’m so sorry Will, I don’t deserve you!”

Will smiled quizzically, “Your right, you don’t, but maybe you do deserve Jack!” he said forcing a smile to take the sting out of his words as he teased her trying to lighten the mood, Elizabeth smiled before giving a shaky laugh as Will pulled her into his arms and hugged her, “It’s ok Elizabeth, it’s ok, I’ll always be here for you, now dry your eyes!”

“But Will…” she sniffed, “I don’t even know for sure that I do really love him, although I am beginning to think its more than likely thanks to you, but Will what if he does not love me, I killed him Will, I stole away the one thing he valued most, his freedom, how could he love me after that, what do I do if he does not love me?” Elizabeth asked in a small sad voice.

Will smiled and placed a small kiss against the top of her head as she rested it against his chest, “Trust me Elizabeth, I don’t think you have to worry about that!” he said thinking of the small white Swan that represented Jacks heart and soul back at the sea of souls “You might have your work cut out getting him to admit it though, are you up to it?”

“I don’t know Will,” she said in a quite voice, “What if he does not want me…”

“What would a pirate do Elizabeth, would they take no for an answer?” Will challenged her, Elizabeth let out a sad little chuckle, “No they certainly would not!”

“Well there you are then, are you a week lily livered Governors daughter or are you a strong pirate lass that’s a match for the legendry Captain Jack Sparrow?” he teased her

“I don’t know that I’m either really, may be a girl that used to be a Governors daughter but is trying to become a pirate lass!”

“There you are then,” Will said rubbing her back reassuringly, “Trust me Elizabeth, everything will work out just fine!” Will laughed suddenly.

Elizabeth turned her head looking at him enquiringly, “What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing really,” Will answered her, “Its just I’m kind oh hopping Jack does put up a bit of a fight, I think I will really enjoy watching the great Captain Jack finally get caught, it should prove entertaining, I cant wait to see the look on his face!”

Elizabeth smacked him lightly on the arm although she couldn’t quit hid her own smile “Will that’s not very nice!”

“No it isn’t, but watching him squirm will be funny none the less!” Elizabeth just shook her head at him as they sat in silence as Will hugged her to him for one last time, both lost in their own thoughts as the sun set and the stars came out shining in the blue blackness of the night sky like tears shed for a lost love.

Elizabeth suddenly found herself falling face first into the sand as Will yanked his arm from around her as he shot away from her side as if she were suddenly red hot.

Pushing herself up, Elizabeth spat sand out of her mouth before turning to glare at Will,
“Jacks back!” Will said looking slightly apologetic.

“And I’m eating sand why?” inquired Elizabeth still scowling.

Will stared down at his hands as they rested on his knees afraid that the mask he wore would slip and reveal to Elizabeth how much pain, jealousy, and even anger, warred in his heart every time he was forced to face the fact that she was no longer his, “Jack could get the wrong idea seeing us sitting together the way we were, we know now that we are only friends, but he doesn’t!”

“But Will, we are friends, friends hug, we were not doing anything wrong!” Elizabeth stated confusion in her voice.

“Even the most innocent actions can be read wrong Elizabeth, you forget, I know how much it hurts to see the woman you love in another mans arms!” Will said quietly, still without looking at her. Hurt and shame clouded Elizabeth’s face as she stared at him not knowing what to say, even though she new she deserved that and much worse. What he said had hit her like a slap in the face, but what had really shocked her was the tone of his voice, ice cold, bitterness dripping from every word, so unlike the Will of a few moments before.

As the silence stretched on, Will forced himself to look up at her, noting the hurt shinning on her beautiful face before his attention was pulled away by the sound of Jack calling his name, “Oy Will, got the water for that drowned rat you found, you might want to make use of it before she expires for the lack of it!” Jack Yelled at him from the other side of the beach.

With one last look at Elizabeth’s hurt countenance, Will pulled himself to his feet and made his way over to where Jack had placed the containers of water he and the rest of the crew had been to fetch.

As he walked across the beach, Will thought of the hurt look on Elizabeth’s face, totally unaware of the small cruel smile that twisted his features.

~ * ~

Jack stood up from were he had been sitting on the sand as the meeting he had call with the crew broke up and they shuffled off in one’s and two’s to find somewhere to sleep, he studded their faces as they passed by him, they all wore worried expressions.

Some looked down right scared, and why shouldn’t they be, they had just been told they had got to face the Kraken again if they wanted to get of this island, no one had been happy about that but some fast talking from himself had managed to convince them it was the only way, truth be told he was none to happy about that himself, the last thing he wanted to do was go face to tentacle with the nasty bugger that had already eaten him once.

Jack shuddered at the memory, a cold sweet braking out all over his body as his hands started to shake, he could still recall the awful stench and the agonizing pain as the massive teeth of the Kraken had pieced his body, tearing him to pieces before mercifully everything had gone black and he had known no more, Jack clenched his hands tightly into fists trying to stop the shaking as he resolutely pushed the memories away, he could not afforded to dwell on that, he needed to come up with a plan to kill his over grown playmate.

The crew would help, they would do what ever he told them to, but as the Captain, they looked to him to come up with the plan, and that was the problem, Jack hadn’t a clue how they were going to manage to kill it, not that they knew that, when asked he had thrown a couple of long winded confusing sentences out at them and just as he had known they would, they took the fact that they couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying to mean he had some sort of brilliant plan up his sleeve and had stopped questioning him reassured that he knew what he was doing even if they didn’t.

He needed to come up with a workable plan of action and soon before they realized there dear Captain was a shaking wreck at the mere thought of the Kraken and only a great deal of will power was stopping him from screaming like a frightened child as he ran for the hills to find the biggest rock he could to crawl under never to come out again, but it was very hard to plan when your mind kept getting side tracked by other problems or should he say problem, he glanced over his shoulder to where his other problem sat next to Will who was explaining to her how he had found Cutler Beckett’s sister.
Kelasin had still not woke up even though Will had been getting as much water into her as he could, concern for the girl stirred in his mind before he mentally slapped himself upside the head, the girl was Wills problem not his, he wanted nothing to do with the sister of one of the few men he truly considered an enemy, but Elizabeth was a problem and one that scared him even more than the Kraken, Jack grunted in annoyance as he realized that he was staring at her again, he couldn’t seem to control his own eyes around her, every now and then he would become aware of his gaze searching out her face no matter what he was doing or who he was talking to.

The first thing he had done when retuning with the water was search the beach with his eyes looking for her only to see her sitting wrapped in Wills arms, the jealousy that had ripped through him at the sight had nearly knocked him off his feet, but what right did he have to be jealous, she was Will’s girl and not his, Jack turned and walked slowly of along the beach lost in thought.

If he were honest, he had to admit that Elizabeth had not been out of his thoughts from the moment he first met her, a smile touched his lips as he recalled how she had stood on the docks defending him to the men who were intent on hanging him completely ignoring the fact that she was soaking wet and that the man she was defending was the reason she was stripped down to her under garments, she had not reacted in any way he would of expected a lady of her station to react, she had not screamed or had the vapors, had not been concerned with her state of undress and had not been the least bit fazed when told that the man who had stripped her and manhandled her was in fact a pirate.

Instead she had just kept right on defending him even going so far as to place herself between him and the guns that were trained on him glaring defiantly at the men threatening him one of whom was her own father, these thoughts inevitably lead to others, a slightly lecherous look entered his eyes as the way she had felt pressed up against him, all soaking wet and half dressed came vividly to mind as he had pulled her up against him with the chains attached to his wrists, even then she had not been afraid of him, angry yes, afraid no.

That was the precise moment all his troubles had first begun as she had stood held captive in his arms, her eyes spiting fury at him as she redressed him with no hint of fear showing and his admiration for her had been born, god the girl had spunk, her fire and fury had excited him, here was no milk and water miss but a strong and spirited young woman, and with the birth of that admiration had come the first stirring of attraction.

These stirrings had been small at first and easily pushed aside, especially with everything else that had been going on at the time, but as he had spent more time in her company, he had gotten to know her better and his admiration hand in hand with his attraction had grown.

Looking back, the clincher had been the time they had spent marooned on rum runners island, Jack shook his head at himself in self disgust, how the hell had he missed it, he should of realized then that he was in deep trouble when he had shown her his scars, it hadn’t been hard to figure out the girl was fascinated with pirates and because of all the stories she had read about him as a child looked at him as some kind of anti hero.

When she had learned the truth about his escape from the island the first time, he had seen the disappointment and hurt in her eyes as her hero was shown to be nothing more than a normal man, and he had been upset to see her looking at him that way, had wanted her to look at him with admiration and a touch of awe as she had before, he had been hurt by her look, her words and her lack of faith in him so he had shown her his scars to prove to her that some of the stories at least were all to painfully true.

He had never felt the need to do that before, usually he wanted people to underestimate him if they thought of him as nothing more than a drunken bumbling fool it made them that much easier to trick, and later as they had drank together, singing the song she had taught him, as they had danced around the fire, he could not remember ever feeling that relaxed around someone.

As they had sat on the beach together, the fire creating a romantic atmosphere, she had snuggled into his side resting her head so trustingly on his shoulder, he remembered feeling a little like a school boy at his first secret tryst with a girl as he had carefully placed his arm around her, afraid that at any moment she would realize what he was doing and rebuff his advances, unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you looked at it, he had passed out not long after or god knows what he would of tried, only to be awoken the next morning by the smell of smoke to realize she had tricked him and had gotten him drunk on purpose so she could burn all the rum, making a giant signal fire.

Of course he had been angry, but more at him self than at her for letting him self believe even for a minute that a girl like her could be attracted to a pirate like himself, infact he was rather proud of her, he was the master when it came to tricking people to get what he wanted and she a mere slip of a girl, had beaten him at his own game.

It was only later after they had beaten Barbosa and Elizabeth was returned to Wills loving arms in the safety of Port Royal as he sailed away, once more Captain of the newly returned Black Pearl, that just how much trouble he was in came and Kicked him squarely in the teeth in the shape of a compass that would not work.

He was not stupid, he new that the deal he made with Jones was running out and soon he would be required to uphold his end of the bargain, but Jack had a plan he needed to find the chest that contained Jones heart, it should not of been much of a problem as he was the proud owner of a compass that pointed straight at what you wanted most in the world, but to his complete consternation, every time he tried to use it, the dammed thing refused to stay still swinging instead between two points, he tried to tell himself it was pointing at the chest and the key, but he knew he was lying to himself.

For a start, one of the directions it always pointed in was Port Royal and the other was in completely the other direction mirroring the turmoil going on in his head, there was no way that either the chest or the key was in Port Royal, oh no what was in Port Royal was the thing he wanted most alright but that thing was Elizabeth at the same time he was not sure he did want her, infact some time he wanted to be as far from her as it was possible to get, hence the compass swinging to and fro, for gods sake she loved Will who was as close to an actual friend as Jack was likely to get, he wasn’t even sure she was attracted to him and if she was, if he were to go back to fetch her even if he had to kidnap her what had he got to offer her, nothing but the life of a pirate with the constant threat of the nose hanging over their heads.

That was no kind of life for a girl like her; he had no wealth security or position to give her. Will at least could give her security and for himself he did not want to want her, did not like the feeling of needing her or the fact that not a day went past that he did not think of her, missing her dreadfully, he missed the way she argued with him, stood up to him, made him feel truly alive and what scared him most, made him want to change to be a good man, worthy of her.

He was a pirate, blast it all, he was Captain Jack Sparrow; he did not need anyone, especially not some slip of a girl. He didn’t need the thought that the freedom he loved so much was no freedom at all if he was not free to be with her and so his silent inner struggle had continued and the compass continued to swing.

Jones had finally requested payment and still the compass would not worked and then there she was, right in front of him standing on the docks of Tortuga, asking if he knew were Will was, and what had he done? He had stood there and lied to her, got her to use the compass to find the chest making her think it was the way to save Will.

The voyage for the chest had been sheer torture for Jack having her so close, but still unable to claim her as his own, but apart of him had felt complete. It had felt so right sailing the seas with her beside him on the deck of the Pearl and he hadn’t been able to resist flirting with her, to his surprise she had joined in flirting back, he had wonted her so much it was painful.

He had very nearly given in to temptation and kissed her right then and there on the deck of the ship, not caring if the whole crew had seen them, would of done in fact if the blasted black spot had not chosen that very moment to make its reappearance, but it had and with its arrival the moment had been lost but at least he was fairly certain that she wanted him nearly as much as he wanted her.

And what of now, all her actions since his returned let him know she did want him, was attracted to him maybe even cared for him a little, her sorrow and remorse at her actions back on the deck of the Pearl when she had kissed him and left him to die were genuine and heart braking to behold, and even though her kiss was only meant to distract him so she could chain him up, he still had to say he preferred her kiss to the Krakens ick!

If he had known he would have such an effect on her simply by taking off his shirt he would off done it a lot sooner, it had taken him a while to realize what she was staring at, it had never occurred to him at the time that she probably never seen a man with out a shirt on before and she seemed to like what she was looking at.

If the heat in her eyes and the slow very telling blush were anything to go by, he had to admit to being quite flattered, he had wandered out of the pool and flopped down besides her knowing his state of undress made her uncomfortable but being unable to resist the temptation of watching her squirm in embarrassment as she tried to avoid looking at him the knowledge that she found him attractive and was having a hard time stopping her self from staring at his bare chest both amused him and flattered him at the same time, so he had lay there appearing totally unconcerned while secretly enjoying her discomfort satisfaction and male pride making him puff out his chest for her perusal.

The next thing he knew Elizabeth was pressed up against him as he held her in his arms but not for the reason he would of liked, instead of throwing her self at him and demanding he kiss her, she was in stead wailing like a baby, her hot tears dripping down his chest as she clung to him, his heart had melted, his poor little Lizzy was crying and he just couldn’t stand it.

He had felt something wrench in his heart at every gut wrenching sob, but it had allowed them to clear the air and after her crying had ended, they seemed to have reached an acceptance of each other even a friendship as they had just sat and held each other, what was worrying was that just the simple act of holding her had meant more to him then any other time he had been with a woman, it felt as if he had come home.

He never wanted to be any were else than in her arms enjoying the feel of her soft little hands as they explored his bare skin, unfortunately it wasn’t long before she had discovered his embarrassing little secret, the fact Jack Sparrow was ticklish, he was forced to admit playing with her as she tickled him had been fun, but that had come to a sudden stop when he found himself on top of her, his weight pressing her down into the sand, he had seen the moment when she had given in to her desire as her eyes had slowly fluttered shut waiting for him to Kiss her.

At the first touch of her lips against his, something had seemed to explode inside of him, desire stronger than any he had felt had swept through him, shocking him with its force and he had surrender him self to desire, to her and that was when it had hit, I love you!

He had frozen, panic over ridding desire as for one truly terrifying moment he thought he had said it aloud, I love you! His relief had been short lived however as he realized that although he had not in fact said it out loud it was true none the less, and there it was, the root course of all his problems the spinning compass, Davey Jones, even his suicidal return to the Black Pearl when he had been half way to safety, he had fallen in love with Lizzy, had been in love with her for a long time and that realization terrified him more than the Kraken ever could, and so he had pushed himself of her and ran trying to get away from her before he gave himself away.

He was afraid she would see the truth in his eyes and would laugh at him or worse, use it against him and so he had ran which had lead him here walking along the beach in the dark, his head in a whirl, in love for the first time in his life and wishing it were not true and at the same time as jealous as hell because some one else was holding her and loving her and he wished it were him.

Jack sighed as his shoulders slumped letting his head fall back, he stared up at the glittering stares with un seeing eyes, time for some soul searching, he couldn’t go on like this, he needed to decide what to do and he could only do that if he were honest with himself.

Right then honesty time, well firstly he had to admit that he did in fact lo… loooo… looooer… come on Jack, ‘suck it up’ he told him self sternly, for crying out loud you’ve been eaten by a sea monster, fort undead pirates, made a deal with Davey Jones and lived to tell the tale! (Even if he did have to die to do it…) it was just one little word, right then here goes, I love Lizzy, er Elizabeth, I love Elizabeth Swann, right then if he could say it in his head he could say it out loud.

Jack took a deep breath and closed his eyes, “I love Elizabeth Swann!” After a few minuets Jack cautiously cracked one eye open and looked around, well so far so good, he had said he loved Lizzy out loud and the world didn’t seem to of ended, but where did that leave him?

Ok, so he finally knew with out a doubt that he did truly, madly, deeply love his Lizzy, but what was he to do about it, he was pretty sure, no he was certain she was attracted to him. She would not of responded the way she had back at the pool if she wasn’t, and he was fairly certain his abrupt departure would not of got her half so mad if any thought of Will had entered her head at any point during their time alone together.

He was less certain of his ability to steel her away from Will and into his arms, but if he turned on the charm, gave her a few lingering glances, whispered a few suggestive comments in her shell like, he was fairly confident she would sercome and if all else failed he could always take his shirt of again, the question though was not if he could do it but more if he should do it or if he even wanted to.

Ok, so you could strike that last one, he did want to, so the only question was should he try to claim Lizzy for his own and he knew the answer to that one all to well, nothing had changed, he still had nothing to offer her, she was still Will’s girl and he still brought her nothing but trouble, it was after all her association with him that was the reason she was now a wanted criminal, also the reason she was still Miss Swann rather than Mrs. Turner, ok, ok so he was not so sorry about that, but she was.

But at the end of the day he was a pirate and pirates took what they wanted with no regrets and he wanted Lizzy, you’re a good man Jack! Dam it why did that little voice have to pop up now just as he had made up his mind what he wanted, but it did have a point, Lizzy was one of the few people that believed in him, and because he loved her it mattered to him what she thought of him, he wanted to be a good man, for her, one day Jack you will have the chance to do the right thing, some thing truly heroic!

Well maybe this was that day, so what would a good man do, what would Will do, well he certainly would not come between her and her fiancé, as much as he loved her he knew he had nothing to offer her, she was better off with Will.

She should get married and have children and live happy and safe for the rest of her life, free of the threat of the noose and that meant there was no room in her life for him, a good for nothing worthless pirate who spent his life one step ahead of the law and various other people who wanted him dead, he could not ask her to live her life like that, she deserved so much more.

So that was it, he knew now what he must do, first he had to keep his hands off Lizzy no matter how much he wanted her and she seemed to want him, it could never work between them, then he had to find away of getting rid of Cutler Beckett and clearing both Will and Lizzy’s names so they could go back home and have their happily ever after, then he would have to sail away leaving her behind for ever, even though he would spend the rest of his life missing her, and would die loving her as much then as he did right this minute.

Jack sighed and turned to walk back the way he had come, his heart heavy, his course of action clear, he must stay away from Lizzy for her own good as well as his own but before he could give her, her life back, he had to first get them of this island and that meant finding away to kill the Kraken, but first he needed to sleep, all that honesty had given him one hell of a headache.

Jack trudged slowly back to their make shift camp, his steps heavy and shoulders slumped all trace of the swaggering arrogant cock sure Captain was gone as he walked in a straight line not a stagger in sight.

Finding a empty lean to a bit apart from the others, Jack threw him self down and tried to sleep only to find his dreams haunted by Lizzy’s crying face as she watched as the sea tore him away from her and down in the depths to be lost to her forever.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Well guy’s there you go hope you liked the fifth chapter. Loved it or loathed it let me know

Review me ‘eartis Yo Ho…