Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I was out of town for a week competing in a modeling and talent competition up in New York. (Without internet and free time, I might add.) Anyways it was a lot of fun and you're never going to believe this, because I didn't either. I was staying at the Sheraton, which is right across the street from the Hilton (where the competition was). Guess who was staying at the Hilton? JOHNNY DEPP. So it turns out that he was in town for the Late Show with David Letterman, which was about a block from the hotels. Of course, I was busy at the time but one of the girls in my group overheard that Mr. Depp was on the street, so one of the supervisors told her and her friend that they could go outside to see him! They ran a couple of blocks and caught a glimpse of him from across the street, which is awesome. The sad thing is that I didn't get to see him, though. SOB.

Disclaimer: Yea, you might've already guessed that I don't own any of these characters because... I'm on FanFiction.

My Compass Does Not Lie

by inukokoro

Elizabeth took off her shoes, holding them in her hands and proceeded to tip toe down the staircases that would lead her past the crew and to the cargo; and eventually, to the rum. She was thankful that someone had thoughtfully decided to refill the ship's storage of rum after they had used it on getting the Kraken to stop its advances momentarily. After blowing a stream of air across a row of the bottles to get rid of the thin layer of dust, she pulled out the bottle nearest to her and cradled it to her body.

She wasn't sure how the other men would react if they saw her taking away a rum bottle. They would probably either think that she intended to throw all the rum overboard – one by one, apparently – or that it was a waste for a lady to drink rum. Both of which were ridiculous ideas, of course, because there was no way Elizabeth was going to purge the ship of rum entirely and she was a small woman so it wouldn't take much to make her inebriated.

Once on the top deck she set the bottle of rum down and put her boots back on, hastily lacing them up again. Elizabeth picked up the rum bottle and looked around the deck. It was satisfactorily empty at the moment and she climbed one more staircase to the helm, leaning against the railing there. She tugged the cork out of the bottle, stowing it in her pocket. There was no way she'd be able to drink the whole bottle. Waste not. Barbossa's words drifted through her head and she thought of how thankful she was that they hadn't slit her throat.

With a small smile, she raised the bottle to her lips and took a long swig. Rum wasn't her favorite alcoholic beverage and she preferred wine to it any day, but it would have to do. She doubted that pirates kept any wine in their cellar anyway.

She was thinking far too much; she decided and took another long drink. The rum level was considerably lower than it had been before, and yet she didn't feel a thing. The ship took a small dip in a wave and she fell into a sitting position on the wooden deck. It didn't faze her at all and she smiled and took another drink. This wasn't so bad; she could get used to this.

"After all, who bloody needs Will Turner?" Elizabeth mumbled and then said louder, "Not I!"

"No one said you needed 'im." A male voice told her and she looked to her left to see Jack taking a seat next to her.

"They all thought it." She frowned and replied bitterly, swirling the rum around in the bottle. Jack's dirty and decorated hand reached out, snatch the rum bottle from her. "Give that back! I need that!"

Jack's eyebrows raised and he looked at her. "No you don'."

"Yes I do!" She protested, reaching for it but missing because Jack moved it out of her grasp. Sulkily, she folded her arms across her chest and rested her forehead against the wooden railing.

"What's bothering you? The Elizabeth Swann I know would never become intoxicated." He took a long drink of the rum he now held. "Is it dear William?"

"It's not dear William anymore, as we're no longer engaged." She spat out bitterly and held out her hand for the rum bottle. Jack reconsidered his decision to remove the rum from her and gave it back. She took a smaller drink this time and wiped away a trickle of rum with the back of her hand. "He said that we needed to take a break and figure out what we desire most."

"Well, fortunately I have a remedy for that." He pulled out his compass and handed it to her. "It's not broken anymore. But perhaps you need some more rum before opening that, what say you?"

Elizabeth nodded and drank some more of the alcohol, emptying the bottle to about three inches left. It was hard for her to gauge exactly how much she had actually drank, as Jack had his share in the bottle. She sat the bottle down on the deck and took several minutes to pry open the compass. It crossed the back of her mind that it hadn't seemed as hard to open the previous times.

The arrow spun around before settling in one direction, quivering. She looked up and met Jack's eyes.

"Ah." He exhaled, grinning. "It would seem that I am what you desire most."

She looked down at the compass again, shutting it with a distinct snap. "I think I need some more rum." Her hand outstretched and pried the bottle from Jack's hand. After taking a considerably long drink – which emptied the bottle to a small amount that covered the bottom of the bottle but not much else – she set it down on the deck, glibly moving towards Jack at the same time.

The two sat in silence for a while longer; taking turns with the rum until it was gone. Elizabeth continued to edge closer to the pirate and finally took away the rum bottle, setting it down on her other side when it was empty. She laid her head on his shoulder and awkwardly wrapped her arms around his neck. Her eyes fell closed and she inhaled deeply, a drunken smile spreading across her lips.

"What about dear William now?" Jack inquired in a low voice that only seemed to make Elizabeth press herself closer to him. His hand slipped around her waist and stopped at her hip. He reluctantly pulled her away from him and leaned forward, his rough lips against her ear. "What do you want, Elizabeth Swann?"

"I want you, Jack." She felt one of his hands sweep up into her hair before moving down to her jaw and continuing along her neck and downwards. His lips had left her ear and were now on hers; kissing her in a way that Will had never been able to.

Will's kisses had been sweet and gentle, and each one let her know that he loved her with all of his heart. Jack's kisses were unadulterated, rough, and laced with lust. The two were so different that even kissing couldn't be used as something to decide by. Her mouth opened to him, letting him into her mouth.

Jack wasn't a patient man when it came to this, just as Will wasn't for waiting for the opportune moment.