A Swann's Sparrow

*DISCLAIMER*: None of the POTC characters or anything associated with them belong to me, but if they did…

Well. I would hardly know what to do with them. ...I'm not that brilliant. Anyhow, don't sue! I make no profit off

of this.

A/N: Aright, this is The Swann's Sparrow rewrite/edit, whatever, please review and tell me what you think I'm

doing wrong, or what I could improve upon in my writing. The constructive criticism will *hopefully* help me

write better stories. Thanks! Besides, as you will undoubtedly notice, I've changed the storyline quite a bit now

that I have some idea of where I'm going with it. Very angsty stuff, I'm afraid, but I think the plot is developing

quite nicely... Penny for your thoughts?

--Nefaeri

<@> <@> <@>

Ch. 1 Lizzie’s Lost??

“Jack!” Lizzie giggled, her coppery curls flying in the wind as she “accidentally” bumped into Jack. Gibbs was

the first to play along with her little game, as usual, crossing his arms. “That’s CAPTAIN Jack to you, lass!”

Lizzie was full out laughing now, but managed to hold onto her smile as she turned back to Jack in mock

seriousness. “I thought it was Captain Jack SPARROW, Captain, sir.” She failed miserably as she burst

into uncontrollable laughter again.

Jack grinned and just watched as his Lizzie doubled over, smiling. She just seemed so happy these days, ever

since she and Will had decided to just be friends, with no hard feelings between them. And Jack didn’t mean to

be presumptuous, but he rather thought he had at least a chance at winning her heart now that Will was

out of the picture…. He was feeling a certain pull towards her, that was for sure, he thought, as Liz leaned

against the deck railing, unconsciously revealing a little cleavage. Jack quickly looked up at the sky, hoping

nobody else would notice he’d been ogling Elizabeth’s goods.

But more than that, he suddenly noticed the dark clouds that were blowing in fast, way too quickly… Something

was wrong. There was lightning in the sky, almost preceding the storm, almost as if in warning...“Lizzie!” Jack

yelled over the sudden gale-force winds. “Below deck! NOW!” He yelled louder as he saw her just laugh at him.

She must have thought his behavior a type of joke, but even she couldn't possibly miss the strangeness of the

situation. How was that possible? Couldn't she see what was going on?

Really worried now, Jack took a step forward, but he felt it. Rain drops, cold as snow and hard as ice. This was

no natural storm. “Captain!!” Jack turned only for a moment as he heard Gibbs, but was quick to turn to where

Gibbs was pointing.

Lizzie.



The rain was coming down full force now, bruising in it’s intensity as it fell in hard sheets, and Jack ran forward,

desperate to save her. “Elizabeth!” He screamed in warning, desperately wanting her to hear him, somehow

knowing that she had no clue. If she had, she certainly would have been moving. There was a large wave coming

over deck, more than ready to crash right into her and carry her away. Finally seeing the fear on Jack’s face and

the pure panic on Gibbs’, Lizzie had just one moment to stop smiling and start feeling afraid before the powerful

wave fell down on her, so fast that she had no time to prepare, not even to brace herself...She couldn't breathe.

She felt herself being lifted and sliding out over the rail as the wave began returning to the sea. She knew she was

going overboard, and she could just barely see Jack through all of the water, but even so she found herself to be

strangely calm. She saw clearly as one of the shipmate’s held Jack back, knowing that they were probably just

trying to survive. There really was no point in losing their captain as well, but Jack was fighting him with all he had,

hell-bent on saving Elizabeth. Seeing the railing as her body started down into the sea, Lizzie just barely managed

to grab onto it with both of her hands, her lack of air burning her lungs. Lizzie held on. It was hard, and strange...

it almost felt as if the wave had hands that were trying desperately to pull her along with it, but she didn't give in.

Finally, the wave was gone and she hung, limply, off the side of the ship. She had no strength with which to pull,

or she’d have been trying to get back onboard.

Jack broke free of the men constraining him, running full tilt in her direction. “LIZZIE!!” Elizabeth managed a

smile, but they both knew he wasn’t going to make it in time. Another wave, this one larger than the first one

she’d just fought off, was coming fast. She hung on with a grim determination, gulping in as much air as she could

pull into her lungs, but it wasn’t enough.

“LIZZIE!”

Jack was forced to watch in horror as Elizabeth was swept backwards and away from his grasping hands, her

fingers just inches from his own. Her eyes were wide with fear, her arms still reaching out towards him. He

would have jumped out into those dark and furiously churning waters after her, but the men he’d just managed

to shake off were back, restraining him. The ship was rocking dangerously, and unless everyone started paying

attention to her, the Black Pearl and everyone on it was going to find themselves in that water, and no one quite

knew how to man a ship like Captain Jack Sparrow.

His men needed him.

Jack struggled even more as he saw Lizzie’s lips mouth one word: Jack... And then she was gone,

swallowed by those same waters Jack had lived on for the majority of his life, waters on which he’d hoped to

die happilly on, and at that moment he wanted nothing more. He searched with abandon for one more sign of

her, her copper curls, her smiling eyes, a delicate hand, a foot, anything, but she was gone.

Eventually Jack began hearing the voices around him again as he collapsed and his men caught him.

“Captain! Captain, she’s gone!” And someone else. “What do we do? Captain, the Pearl is tipping!” And so

many others.

But it was only when Gibbs slapped him hard across the face that Jack could find the will to move. “Captain, if

you don’t get off of your sorry ass right now, everyone is going to DIE!” Gibbs yelled, tears tracking their way

down his face with abandon. He knew Lizzie was gone, he'd seen her go just as the Captain had, but the

Captain was in shock. Gibbs didn't know what to do, but he knew that Lizzie wouldn't have approved of this at

all. “What do you think Lizzie would want you to do? Do you think she'd want us all to die because you couldn't

bear to go on without her? Captain!”

Jack finally looked up, acknowledging Gibbs’ hands clutching his shoulders. Gibbs was right. Lizzie would never

forgive him for allowing everyone else to die, even if it was because he wanted, no he needed to see her

first, at least one more time. She loved too much.

Blinking quickly, Jack pushed thoughts of Lizzie to the back of his mind until he could deal with them, and stood

on his own, brushing off the hands of those around him as they panicked and cried out for help. He began

barking out orders that were immediately followed as his men had their leader back, their Captain, and became

too busy to panic. Jack strode forward, taking command and steering the ship so that it wouldn’t capsize. He

didn’t think. He wouldn’t, because that would mean despair, and right now his men needed hope. They were

going to die if Jack didn’t tell them what to do. This is the thought that Jack clung on to. Desperately, he found

that he needed a reason without Lizzie, and wondered how he'd ever had one before her.

Almost as quick as it began, the storm started letting up, although it was still not something his men could handle

on their own. Hours later when even the winds had finally abated, they set about bringing the ship back to rights.

There was a lot of wreckage, more of the ship damaged because they hadn’t been prepared for such a storm

than because it couldn’t survive one, and Jack took out a hammer with the rest of his men, rebuilding a part of

the deck.

But still…

There was no Elizabeth.

Jack hid his grief well, masking it with a forced calm and bravado, until he had time alone in his quarters to let the

expression of okay peacefulness slip away from his hard features. When he was alone, and he was sure no one

was watching, Jack let his head bow down as he silently cried. It wasn't long before his tears were replaced by

anger. Where had that storm come from? Who had sent it? And, though he barely dared to hope, could it be

possible that whoever was responsible for this catastrophe had Elizabeth? He hoped they did, not because it was

a good thing, far be it, but instead because it would mean that she was alive.

Three days later the Black Pearl, which had found itself lost in the middle of the ocean, sailed smoothly into dock

at the Pirate's Cove, as if guided by a ghost's hand. The men aboard Jack's ship began to whisper of Elizabeth

as their sacred spirit of some sort, superstitiously talking to the air as they thanked her for their safe arrival. But

even so, they all quit their mutterings whenever Captain Jack was near, as he had taken to being eerily quiet and

was easily angered by even the merest mention of Lizzie's name. And if that was not enough, the glimpse of

pain that often shut itself behind the Captain's eyes before it could be seen was heartbreaking. None could bear

to see that expression on the Captain's face. It was too sad.

TBC...