1. Prologue: Permission To Come Aboard

Twas a perfect night, clear, cool, no moon but the bright light from the stars was enough to light the way. Bottle of rum in hand, Jack took a walking tour of his ship, surveying every plank of wood and rigging knot. After coming back from the land of the dead, he'd made a habit of running his hands over their surface, as though they were new to him. Something about dying and being given another chance put things in a bit of perspective for Jack; for how could life ever be quite the same again? The change wasn't evident to most; only a few seemed aware of the new darkness in his eyes. Gibbs, and of course, the one who Jack would have most preferred to not know: Ms. Swann.

Upon first coming back, of course, yes, he'd been furious with her, even if she nearly died to bring him back. But with time, less than he could have possibly imagined, he forgave her. What kind of a pirate forgives the woman who fed him to a kraken? Not a good one; but to forgive another pirate? That was a bit different. And no doubt about it, Elizabeth was a pirate.

Walking half blind in the dark, Jack's musings were interrupted by tripping over something on the deck. He hit the wood planks of the Pearl with a solid thunk. "Bloody Hell," he muttered, sitting up on his elbows. Glancing over to see what obstructed his path, Jack found himself face to face with not an object, but Elizabeth.

"Wut're you doin' out here, love? You've got a hammock, y'know. No need to lay out here on the deck, trippin' up the Captain¾"

"I was enjoying the stars, until a certain pirate decided to ruin my peace and quiet." The words seemed sharp, unless one noticed the mocking smile curling on those bewitching lips.

"Oh…mind if I join you?"

She shook her head, and Jack took another swill of rum, turning over on his back to follow her gaze up to the heavens. He offered her the bottle, but she declined libation.

"We'll be in Port Royal tomorrow," said Jack, propping up his head with one arm. "You can finally get back to your normal life, marry Will, settle down to have oodles of babies and be bored senseless."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "And what will you do, Jack Sparrow? After you leave us to our dull land lubber lives."

Jack detected a strained note in her voice. He suspected she might fear going back; whether she realized or not, she'd changed.

What ever little girl inside her that had craved such normal things as a house, a husband, children¾had grown up, had been kicked out, replaced by an adventurous woman with an untamable soul.

"I suppose I'll go back to doing what I do best, love. Being Captain Jack Sparrow."

She sighed. "That must be nice."

"I prefer it. And what of you? Wouldn't it be nice to just be Elizabeth Swann?"

"When am I not Elizabeth Swann?"

"When everyone else is drawing on you to be someone else, someone they need, or want you to be. Ms. Swann, the governor's daughter. Mrs. Turner, eunuch's wife…"

Much annoyed, she quipped, "And what of Mrs. Sparrow, Jack? You too asked me to marry you once."

"Ah, but what could I possibly want you to be, that you aren't already? What more could I ask for than a pirate queen?"

The longer the conversation went on, the lower Elizabeth's spirits fell. What was she getting herself into? How could something she's wanted all her life suddenly scare her so badly? "I'm not a pirate, Jack," sighed Elizabeth. Maybe she wanted to be one though. It was hard to say anymore.

"Of course you are." He offered her the bottle again, and this time she took a long swill. Jack smiled happily, gold teeth flashing in the night. That's my girl.

The night continued on to early morning, swapping stories and swigging rum, laughing loudly until finally that long felt tension between them no longer felt quite so tense, and in a way melted into something new. It was no longer a cord strung taut between them, tugging torturously with every glance and brush of sleeve. Now, it became a jar, a basin between them they longed to fill with pieces of themselves, to mingle together.

With more rum than she'd ever imbibed in before coursing through her system, Elizabeth brazenly scooted closer to Jack, laying her head on his shoulder. He smiled happily, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, hand playing absently with the golden silk of her hair. The night seemed far too perfect; he didn't want to see it end. It felt like they owned their own little world, there on the deck of the Pearl, most everyone asleep, the only sounds in the night their happy laughter. But the truth was that eventually the sun would come, and Port Royal would come with her. The thought of watching Elizabeth walking down the gangplank with the whelp to start a new life far away from Jack dampened his mood slightly.

"Will you miss me, Jack?" Elizabeth asked suddenly, craning her head up to look at him.

Jack was silent for what was only a few moments, but seemed like hours. He fought with himself, to keep his mouth shut and out of trouble, or to spill his heart out on the deck of the Pearl. With so much rum in his system, in the end he could be nothing but utterly honest. "You know, love, neither of us needs to be missin' each other at all, really."

"What do you mean?" she asked, playing with one of the silver trinkets in his hair absently.

"I mean…" Jack rolled onto his side, so he could look down at the beautiful woman at his side. Momentarily distracted, he ran a finger over her plump lower lip, longing to graze it with his teeth, feel her skin under his exploring tongue. She closed her eyes, infatuated with the sensation of his touch. Don't act like that with me and say no, thought Jack. "We could have a shot at being happy together, if you would come with me instead. We could sail the high sea for as long as we want, do exactly as we please at the very moment we please to."

Elizabeth opened her eyes, and looked up at Jack mournfully. "It sounds nice, Jack, but¾"

"Just nice? Come now, let's be honest here."

She reached up to trace the lines of his face lightly with the tips of her fingers. A sigh of longing escaped his lips, and he turned his head to press kisses to her palm and wrist. "It sounds perfect," she admitted. "But I can't. What about¾" As Jack slipped one of her fingers between his lips, grazing teeth against the pad of her index finger, her last word was barely audible, caught in a breath caused by desire. "Will…"

"Bugger Will," Jack murmured, moving to kiss her neck. His every touch added another stick of fuel to the fire Elizabeth felt igniting, deep within her, that area lower than her stomach she'd always been told a proper lady ignored. But at that moment, feeling the heat of Jack's body pressed her against felt so right, she felt it would be a crime against herself to ignore it. Jack slipped her earlobe between his teeth, teasing the skin lightly, sending a wave of gooseflesh down her spine. The growing warmth between her legs was a sensation she'd only experienced thinking about him, or Will, alone by herself at night. She never imagined he could ignite such desire in her by touching her so little.

Jack had worked his way down her neckline, unbuttoning the top button of her shirt, grazing the top of her breast with teeth. If this continued, she knew they soon would reach a point of no return. Maybe they already had. "I can't forget about Will, Jack," she finally whimpered. He paused in his ministrations, cursing the eunuch silently. He rested his head atop her chest, listening to her heartbeat, feeling that muscle pound against her skin, for him. Not the whelp, for him.

He craved this with every fiber of his being, to explore her, a privilege she'd always denied him before. Because of this, it nearly physically caused him pain to murmur, "It's up to you love, I'll stop if you want. "

The main problem was, Elizabeth didn't want. Because she was curious. Curious, what it was like to do exactly what she wanted, to fall into utterly satisfying self indulgence and not look back. Could Will ever make her feel this way? Would she ever find this perfect feeling again, such heady desire, paired with the feeling of tasting a delicious but oh so forbidden candy?

Sensing the battle within Elizabeth, Jack smiled wickedly, sitting up on his elbows above her. "But you don't want me to stop, do you Lizzie?"

Her chest rose and fall with a deep breath, an attempt to gather her wits about her. Those dark eyes seemed to bore directly into her, straight to her soul. Maybe if it was simply Jack's body she craved, this would have been a much easier beast to slay. But she wanted him, all of him, all for her own even if only for a night.

"All we have is tonight, Jack," she whispered, fingers tracing his neck, down to the exposed skin of his chest. He took in a shuddering breath, and she reveled in his reaction to her touch.

"I can't say I don't want more than that, love. But I also can't say I won't take this opportunity, if you offer it."

Elizabeth sighed, so torn inside she could scream. "Of course, the decision is all mine. It always is."

Jack raised an eyebrow, at a loss. What did she want him to do? Whisk her off and have his way with her, no matter what she said? He realized that maybe that was exactly what she wanted. So, with a smirk that made her heart leap into her throat, he scooped her up and carried her to his cabin, kicking open the door. It bounced against the wall, and shut on its own as Jack lay her down on his unmade bed.

She gasped as he immediately ducked down, lifting her shirt to plant kisses on her stomach, tongue dipping dangerously low inside the waistband of her trousers. He looked up at her, flicking open the top button of her pants as he met her eyes. "Permission to come aboard, love?" he murmured, fingers kneading into her sides. However, he waited for no answer, staying his course along her lower belly with a triumphant curl of lips.

The sensations Jack stirred in her body overtook her, swaying her senses and judgment with wave after wave of pleasure, as unyielding and undeniable as the sea. "Permission granted," she said softly, rocking her head back against the pillow, happily complacent to her newly chartered destination.

After making love not once, but thrice, the pair lay in the quiet, enjoying the way their bodies fit perfectly together, and the warmth of their bare skin in the cold night. In their passion they'd fought to stay quiet, for Elizabeth's fiance lay swinging in a hammock just below them, fast asleep.

It took Jack a while to realize, for she did it so silently, but he noticed the dampness of tears running from her cheeks to his shoulder. She didn't cry because of innocence lost, or even just physical pain; she cried because she knew staying with Jack was exactly what she really wanted, and precisely what she could not do.

Understanding the sorrow of a soul so similar to his own so cruelly denied freedom, he stroked her hair. Jack wished she also had a heart as selfish as his own, that would allow her to leave the eunuch for adventure on the sea.

"Will you remember me, love?" Jack asked, wanting to take her mind off her impending fate, had she not the courage to change it.

"How could I ever forget you, Jack?" she asked, voice even, letting on no sign of her tears.

"Oh, I don't know. When one is smothered with the joys of domestic bliss, one takes little time to think of a pirate."

Elizabeth's fears were exactly the opposite. She was afraid her days would be so full of thoughts of Jack and sailing on the Pearl, quiet, calm domestic life would seem utter misery.

Jack slipped a ring off of his ring finger, a heavy silver band laden with a sapphire the size of Elizabeth's thumbnail, and as deep blue as the sea. Lifting Lizzie's delicate hand, he slid the ring on her own ring finger. "Something to remember me by, love."

She smiled happily as the ring spun freely around her finger, far too large for her own slender digits. "It's lovely. Where did you get it?" she asked, moving it to her thumb, where it didn't seem quite so out of place.

"Morocco."

"And did you come by it honestly?"

Jack smiled wryly. "Of course not."

She nestled into the bend of Jack's neck, content. "Perfect."

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