A/N: Hello everyone! Whilst in the midst of writing my multi-chapter Sparrabeth fic Mutual Compromise, an idea for a short one-shot involving my favourite POTC pairing popped into my head and I thought I should share it! This is one of those post-AWE fics that try to resolve some of the ambiguity of the ending of the third film, particularly for J/E shippers.

Reminder that POTC or its characters do not belong to me :(

I hope you enjoy! :)

The rain matched her mood that night, the sheets of water surging against the thin window, rattling its thin wooden frame, every rumble of thunder feeling as though it could rip the sky in two. Elizabeth sat, as she had done the past seven nights, at the foot of her bed, her arms shielding the chest on her lap, protecting it with her life. It was the task that fate had set her on that cruel morning eight days ago, when the ocean had literally collapsed in on itself and a tempest had risen from its place, when light had been given to some but extinguished for others.

People around the Cove were calling it a battle that would never be forgotten. For Elizabeth, forgetting couldn't come soon enough.

What was left for her now? Her husband, far away, enslaved on a ghost ship that could only make port once every decade. Her family and everybody else she had ever cared about, dead. There was nothing left. Emptiness existed in her heart, eating away at her soul, and she could do nothing but let it devour her.

She glanced towards the window, a swirling mass of black cloud as far as the eye could see. Nothing could sail in this weather. Many of the other pirate lords' plans had been derailed by the hazardous conditions, forced to remain for an extra night to wait out the storm before they could set sail again back to their respective seas and return to their ordinary lives. There was no need for the Brethren to remain at the Cove, at least not until the next crisis, the next time an East India tyrant or Navy commander took it upon himself to directly challenge the freedom of piracy.

And so, there was no longer any need for the Pirate King either.

Elizabeth's ears pricked up as she heard the sound of heavy footsteps from outside in the corridor. She thought it strange, not many visited this side of the Cove's fortress, and even fewer after Teague had ordered that nobody disturb the Pirate King.

She sensed the footsteps growing louder and closer to her room. She carefully shifted the heavy chest off of her lap, taking a moment to get used to not hearing the steady thumping of Will's heart pulsate through her own chest, and was about to stand up when the door flew open, revealing a completely saturated but utterly recognisable pirate captain.

Elizabeth looked up, mouth agape, as the captain took a few confident steps into the chamber, before being momentarily distracted by the water dripping from the tip of his hat. With characteristic flourish, he lifted his trademark tricorn hat off his head and tipped it over, letting the water rush off and drip onto the wooden floor.

He looked virtually the same in every detail, from the kohl smeared around those intense, endless orbs of his, to his tanned face, roughened by storms similar to the one raging outside. He quickly shifted his gaze to her but Elizabeth didn't have the strength to offer him anymore than a small, weak smile.

"Elizabeth" Jack trailed off upon noticing that she'd barely reacted to his presence. He squinted at her, tilting his head to one side. "Bugger, things really must be bad, darlin', or else I think I would have at least earned a slap for intruding on you without knocking."

Elizabeth tried to glare at him but his smile immediately disarmed her. "What are you doing here, Jack?"

Jack frowned in an attempt to look offended. "You should feel honoured to have such a notorious pirate in your bedroom, luv. That can only be topped by having said pirate in your bed."

"Jack! Answer my question."

Jack merely smirked and put his hat back on his head. "Through an entirely unforeseen and unfortunate circumstance I find meself without a ship, having had it cruelly stolen from me by a serial mutineer and offender of beards."

"The Pearl's gone?" Elizabeth's eyes widened, struck by the fact that Jack strangely seemed unconcerned by the loss of his beloved ship.

Jack met her eyes and she immediately perceived the bitterness behinds those dark orbs, well concealed, his face partially illuminated by a lightning strike flashing through the window. He gave her an imperceptible nod and cast a look in the direction of the window. "Sailed a dinghy all the way here."

Elizabeth absentmindedly placed her hand on Will's chest, her mind consumed by thoughts of the Black Pearl, of how she, as Pirate King, could help him get it back. "But surely you know where Barbossa was headed? Perhaps we can pursue him. I can find us a ship and a crew and we could-"

"Elizabeth-"

"-set sail and see if we can catch up to it. There surely must be a ship around here that's fast enough."

"Lizzie."

Elizabeth fell silent upon hearing him refer to her by that name, the only sounds permeating the air being the rain shattering against the window frame and loud rumble of thunder reverberating through the walls. He'd not called her that since... since before everything. Before she'd betrayed him, killed him, back when her life was so much simpler, when all she desired was freedom and adventure, when she was purely led by her stupid naivety.

She felt tears rapidly forming on her eyelids, reminded of memories she'd long cast aside, forgotten. She looked up at Jack, his eyes fixed on her with conflicting detachment and concern. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, shifting her gaze from him to the floor.

"It's not the end of the world, luv. I'll get it back, and kill Barbossa again while I'm at it."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Not that. I'm so sorry, Jack, about everything. About," she took a large intake of breath to steady her voice. "About what I did to you."

"You did what was best by you, and I can't help but admire that." Elizabeth heard footsteps as Jack stepped closer to her. "You need not apologise for what ye are, darlin'."

"What, a liar and a murderer?" Elizabeth felt the tears falling down her cheeks and began to frantically wipe them away, ashamed for appearing so weak and vulnerable in front of him.

"No, Lizzie." Jack knelt down in front of her, removing her hand from her face and gently cupping her cheek, his touch damp from the rain but reassuringly familiar, soothing both her mind and soul. "For being a pirate."

Elizabeth stared at him for a moment, drawn into those enigmatic orbs of his, full of as many truths as lies, as many hopes as fears. She had truly missed him, from his charming wit and incandescent personality, to how easily he wrought herself into her heart, into every fibre of her being. Yet there was a part of her screaming at her, telling her that involving herself with him would do her no good.

"Is that all I am to you?" she blurted out, not really giving her words much thought. Jack reached for her hand again but she brushed him off, standing up and walking to the other side of the room. "I had a life, a good life, before all of this happened. I had a father, a suitor, a childhood friend, all of the riches that I could ever have wanted!" She turned around, noticing him rising to his feet. "And now what do I have? I'm both a widow and an orphan."

Another flash of lightning briefly lit up the dark, musty room.

"If it helps, I'm an orphan too, if you don't count Teague." Jack said with a shrug. "And I don't count Teague, so he definitely shouldn't be counted in any countable circumstances."

"You are not helping." Elizabeth replied through gritted teeth.

Jack looked at her with a searching expression, looking for the right words to use, Elizabeth finding it both odd and strangely thrilling that she'd rendered him briefly speechless. He suddenly staggered towards her, water still dripping from his hair and coat, until he was only a few inches away. "There's one thing ye do still have, Elizabeth."

"What's that?" she asked quietly, unable to tear her eyes off his.

Jack gently caressed the side of her face, taking Elizabeth back to the Black Pearl, to the many hours spent in a battle of wits with the captain whilst on their way to Isla Cruces. "Freedom," he said in a low voice, and she could feel her resolve weakening, her pretences disappearing, enveloped in his intoxicating scent, his entrancing eyes, "And that's hard to come by nowadays."

He leaned closer to her, and before she knew it his lips were on hers, kissing her with a fierce intensity. Elizabeth tried to resist but found herself kissing him back with equal force, wrapping her arms around his neck, forgetting about her past, focusing on the present, her future seeming just a little brighter than a mere moment ago.

He gently released his hold on her lips, and as she opened her eyes to meet his, she could see the wild desire and lust in his eyes, yearning for more. Elizabeth's gaze fell to his lips, soft to touch and no longer tainted with bitter memories, but at that moment her husband's smiling face flashed across her memory, his features morphing into deep betrayal, as though he was there in the room with them, watching her. She couldn't do this. She couldn't be selfish any longer.

She drew back from him, noticing the confusion in his dark eyes. "I'm not free," she said in a broken, defeated voice, "I'm married."

Jack tilted his head back, amusement clear to see on his face. "I'd hardly call what you have a marriage, luv."

"But it is." Elizabeth stepped back as Jack moved in to kiss her again. "I made a promise to him."

Jack merely stared at her in response, his eyes boring deep into her soul and Elizabeth desperately wanted to embrace him again, realising that she held the same desire that he did. What Will didn't know wouldn't hurt him... right?

"You should leave." Elizabeth said decidedly, turning from him and walking to the door.

"I should. But I'm not going to."

Elizabeth sighed as the room lit up again. "Jack, please. Please respect my decision."

Jack looked at her with restrained anger flaring in those dark orbs of his. "But that's not your decision, now, is it? It's barely a decision at all, really. It's a denial. A denial of who you really are."

"It's not-"

Jack waved his hand in the air in order to stop her from speaking. "My turn to talk." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "So, there I was, minding me own business in me dinghy, rum in hand, compass in the other, hell-bent on recovering me beloved Pearl-"

"You thought you could get the Pearl back with a dinghy?" Elizabeth cut in, stupefied.

Jack narrowed his eyes, before ignoring her and continuing to talk. "And then I come to realise something." He pulled the compass out from his belt and threw it to Elizabeth, who only just managed to catch it. "You broke my compass."

"What?" Elizabeth indignant gaze moved from the compass to Jack, her mouth agape. "I didn't break it. It never even worked in the first place!"

Thunder reverberated in the air, but Jack continued, his voice slightly muffled by the noise. "And I want to know if it's broken for you too."

"What are you talking about?"

Jack took several decisive steps forward, seizing Elizabeth's wrist and forcing her hands to clasp the compass as she had done those few months ago when he'd first shown her it. He pulled open the lid and moved his hands away, eyes fixed on the spinning needle, which eventually came to a stop in his direction.

A smile crept onto his lips as he stepped from side to side, watching the needle as it followed his movement. Horrified, Elizabeth quickly slammed the lid shut, distraught that the compass still pointed to him. She had thought that ship had sailed, sure that the thing she now wanted most was to be with William again, safe and happy.

Jack's gaze was fixed on her with a wicked grin. "Care to renege on yer previous claim of indifference towards me, 'Lizbeth?"

"This proves nothing!" Elizabeth replied bitingly, shoving the compass back into Jack's hand and pushing past him.

"On the contrary, for it actually proves everything. How you're lying to yerself as much as you're lying to me."

Elizabeth came to a stop in front of the bed, her back still to him. Was she really doing this? Jack had made a point to come and visit her, and she was throwing the visit back in his face. If she was honest, the familiarity of the captain's presence was reassuring, having spent over a week in the company of numerous new faces, many of whom she instantly felt uncomfortable around.

He was the only remaining part of her past left, and was she really prepared to throw that away as well?

She turned around to face him but the room was empty, a puddle of water across the floor, leading out of the now open door. Elizabeth hurried out into the hallway, seeing Jack walking off in the direction of the main meeting hall, where all the pirate lords had met and, through Jack's vote, made her king.

"Jack!" she called out and he stopped, turning around to face her. "Please, don't go."

"What else am I meant to do, luv?" He slowly started to walk back in her direction. "It's clear you're not even listenin' to yerself, so what's the point in me trying to talk sense into you?"

"Tell me something." She saw Jack roll his eyes as he came to a stop in front of her. "Where does the compass point for you?"

"To the Pearl." Jack replied defensively, with a look of repulsion that she'd even considered the fact that it might point somewhere else.

The ghost of a smirk flitted across her lips. "But you said it was broken, Captain Sparrow."

Jack opened his mouth as though to say something in his defence, but then thought better of it.

Elizabeth's smile grew wider. "Broken presumably meaning not pointing to the Pearl, yes?"

Jack's lip twitched in annoyance. "Broken meaning rendered currently unusable and unavailable for use in the near to distant future, and unable to be exchanged for a usable compass given that its original proprietor is no longer... of this Earth, so to speak," he added with narrowed eyes.

"But it worked for me. It showed me what I wanted most, even if I don't want to believe it." Elizabeth saw Jack's eyes fix on hers, his expression becoming serious and a deep flicker of an indecipherable emotion flitted across his tanned face.

She reached out and gently took his hand, still clasping the compass, and he watched impassively as she lifted the lid, genuinely taken aback when the needle rested in her direction.

"You want me?" she let go of his hand. "But, I thought-"

She was cut off when Jack's lips silenced her, drawing her into a deep, ardent, kiss, her thoughts converging on one singular thought, a sole desire to be with him, for them to never leave this moment. She felt his hands tighten around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck, revelling in his touch, his taste, suddenly feeling alive again.

The kissing grew more frenzied, their breathing ragged, and as every moment passed Elizabeth knew this was the right decision, that she had desired him all along, that he was the only one who could make her truly happy.

He had said that she wanted freedom and he was right, but she hadn't realised in what form that freedom would take. She had always assumed that it was freedom from responsibility that she had been after, but it had turned out far simpler than that. Jack represented the freedom that she craved. He was what she truly wanted most. Somebody as untameable as the sea.

This was where she belonged, and come Hell or high water she vowed never to leave Jack's side again, as long as he was willing to put up with her. She was in love with him and, even if she had her heart broken at the end of it, she knew that he was worth the risk.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please make sure to leave me a review and let me know what you think! :D