This is my entry in the Sparrabeth "Why We Love Jack and Elizabeth" Challenge on Tumblr. (If you want to play, and please feel free, you can find it on my Tumblr, I'm apirateslifeforme123 . Based on #53: Because he would have given his soul for a kiss, for the lovely Colorblindly . Set mid DMC, this takes place on the supposition that it took a bit longer to reach Isle las Cruces. Heh.

One Year

A soul was not a tangible thing most people ever truly managed to commodify, but Jack Sparrow had, and he'd sold his for a ship.

The ship.

The Pearl. It seemed like a very fine trade at the time, and again when he regained her captaincy not so long ago.

That was, until she stepped on board once more.

Just looking at her made Jack feel as though some great invisible fist squeezed his heart. It was uncomfortable, to say the least.

He wanted it to stop.

He reckoned a kiss would do the trick, maybe, and he knew he would have sold his soul all over again just to get one.

And if his soul was worth a hundred average souls, then how many kisses could he finagle for such a trade? At least a hundred would be fair. Possibly a thousand? Maybe even…

But then, he didn't have a soul to trade, so as usual it was up to him to turn nothing into a great wealth of something, with nigh but his wits and his highly developed skills at beguilement.

A kiss was the goal he had in mind when he approached her at the gunwale, reading those Letters of Marque. And again, upon the steps to the quarterdeck, and somehow he ended up offering mar-i-age instead.

One would think she was the sheister bargaining against impossible odds! Yet even with that—in Jack's opinion, rather covetable and generous—proposition upon the table, she rolled her eyes as though he'd proposed something indecent at a society ball. As though they weren't on a fucking pirate ship, thank you very much, and she was dressed quite improperly as a boy, mind you… And though he'd said he preferred her in dresses those breeches really did become her long legs and shapely derriere—it was all rather maddening.

What was even more maddening was the timing of the god damned black spot to re-appear on his hand, just as he was about to receive the object of his most recent ardent desires!

Well, maybe not so recent.

Recent enough to be sending his compass in a bloody tizzy for months.

Alright, almost a year.

Bloody hell.

Jack fled to his cabin, in search of privacy, a new bandage, and he really would feel better laying hands on that jar of dirt…

Standing at his desk, Jack went about wrapping a semi-fresh swatch of linen about his palm when the cabin door burst open, a rather flustered Elizabeth slamming it behind her. She leaned against the portal, as though she'd been pursued. By the eyes of the crew, perhaps, or just her own thoughts.

And though his conniving brain sang with all the fresh opportunities this presented, his mouth spouted rather acidly, as he was still smarting a little from her earlier refusal, "You shouldn't be in here alone, love. Terrible for a lady's reputation, you know."

It was Elizabeth who laughed first at the idea, raking fingers through her tangled blond hair. She seemed flustered, her earlier sangfroid thawed just a hair. "A bit late for that, isn't it? I have been a lady on my own for weeks now, and find myself unchaperoned upon a pirate ship. As if my imprisonment for aiding a pirate had not done the job already…I am quite ruined."

"Aye, perhaps. Blaming this on me, then?" There was a hint of sadness in his tone, the usual mirth dampened by the thought that she wished she'd let him hang instead.

But immediately she answered, "No. I regret nothing."

Jack's brows shot up into his bandana for the steadfast quality of her tone. "Indeed?"

Elizabeth sighed, crossing the floor to him. He'd been fumbling rather frustratedly with the knot of the bandage, and she took it from him, tying it neatly as a seasoned nurse.

Or a girl who has been practicing her knots on the sly, he thought with a glimmer of hope.

His arm trembled slightly when she did not let go of his hand immediately.

"I'm not the naïve young woman you think I am, Jack. Will thinks that we can go back. That this will blow over. Will thinks if you are good and brave and honest it can be enough…" She squeezed his hand tighter, closing her eyes as she thought of Will. Dear, sweet, naïve Will. "But I know—we know—that sometimes they'll hang you anyway, just to please the crowd. I don't intend to give them the chance."

Her use of the word we did something curious to Jack's insides.

She lifted her gaze to Jack's then, and as their eyes met something like lightning struck within them. Of their own volition, Jack's hands moved to pull Elizabeth closer, wanting her lips more than anything else in this world.

The compass had told him so, multiple times.

But Elizabeth stopped short, tilting back her head. "I have to find him, Jack."

Jack's stomach twisted just a little. He knew exactly where to find Will, didn't he… Well, he didn't intend to really leave the Whelp in Davy Jones' tender care permanently…he was fairly certain.

"We will," he assured her, hoping she would believe him, and he began nearing towards her again.

"And I want to make a deal. For the Letters."

Ah. So she was still out to persuade him? Jack halted, peering down the length of his nose at her.

"I'm all ears, dearie."

"Let me…let us stay. On the Pearl. Let us join your crew. We'll sign your manifest with false names and stay out of sight when we make berth in English ports. No one need ever hear from Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner again."

A slow smile spread upon Jack's full lips. Lips that had no business upon the face of a pirate, Elizabeth thought, then blushed as she realized she was looking at that most insouciant appendage.

Inside, the pirate rejoiced. He had her in the bag now…

Jack sighed, releasing Elizabeth, walking to look out the aft windows. She was surprised by how she immediately missed him near her, clenching her fists to suppress the urge to reach out for him again.

"Not sure I fancy tripping over you and the eunuch for an extended period of time..." he mused, tugging at his beard. When he peered back over his shoulder he was delighted to see an expression of utmost shock upon Elizabeth's features.

"Why not!?" she exclaimed, her earlier deference quickly replaced by outrage.

"Well…now you, my dear. You could be invaluable." Elizabeth's expression darkened as she anticipated some unsavory appraisal of her womanly assets. But he surprised her as he said, "You're whip-smart, handy with a weapon, and sneaky to boot. You, darlin', are already a good pirate in the making. I've known that all along. Our dear Will, on the other hand…"

Elizabeth could hear the list ticking off in her own head.

Will was good.

Will was kind.

Will was honest.

Will would argue any scheme of Jack's, if it did not suit his moral liking.

Will could hardly tell the bow from the aft end of a ship.

"He is an excellent swordsman," Elizabeth argued, and it was the only thing she could think of that could recommend Will as a worthy crew-member on a pirate-turned-privateer vessel.

"Aye, he is an excellent swordsman," said Jack with a sly smile. "So he'll make dead weight until we get into a scrap, eh? The other crew won't like sharing their rations with a bloke like that."

"He's strong. And he's good at making repairs in metal or wood," she argued further.

"I've already got a shipwright, love. Hired him off a French merchant ship."

"Forced, you mean."

Jack shrugged. "He seems content enough to me." Monsieur LeBlanc certainly drank enough of their rum…

Elizabeth had thought this would be an easy way to secure some sort of future for herself and her fiancé—not to mention getting to remain with Jack, which if she was really honest—made her happier than she had been since the ordeal with the cursed Aztec gold…

He was infectious, she mused. Like a disease, she tried to tell herself. Like…forbidden candy, more like. Like a favorite sweet. She found herself just wanting more and more and more. Just one more taste. Well, she'd very well almost gotten her taste earlier, hadn't she?

Dear Lord. She was playing with fire.

She didn't mean to be unfaithful to Will.

She didn't want to have these impure thoughts.

She simply couldn't help herself, when Jack was around.

She could almost hear the nails being hammered into her coffin, as she dared ask, "What would persuade you, Captain Sparrow?"

He turned to her with a dark light shining in those obsidian eyes. Mischief, and…oh dear. A liquid warmth pooled deep in her belly, when he looked at her that way.

"One year, Miss Swann."

"One year, what?" she asked suspiciously.

"I will let you and Will stay on the Pearl and live the pirate life for as long as you like, if you will agree to delay your marriage to Will for one year."

Elizabeth's lips parted, and she told herself it was with surprise, and not anticipation.

"Why?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

"You know why."

"Say it, or you'll get nothing from me," she snapped, more annoyed by her own interest than Jack's brazen demands.

Jack pursed his lips, an infuriating smirk pulling at the corner of them. "As you like. I wish the chance to woo you, Lizzy." He neared closer once more, the click of his boot heels upon the decking beating in time to her thundering heart. He gestured with a flourish of be-ringed fingers, "Didn't really get my chance before, did I? With the skeletons and the navy and that nasty jail cell all getting in the way…"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but they fluttered closed as he reached out to caress her jaw, tilting her head towards him. "And, I should like to seal the deal with a kiss."

"You are insufferable."

"One of my many redeeming qualities."

"You're mad."

"As a hatter, love."

He sounded closer. She knew he was leaning down to kiss her. He was doing it slowly, like a snake stalking its prey, giving her every chance to shove him away. She knew she should tell him to take his deal and shove it where the sun—presumably—never shone on Jack Sparrow. She should have fled the cabin. Should have cursed the day she ever heard his name…

"Well? What say you?" he whispered, right above her lips, and she could not suppress a sigh of longing, her heart fluttering in her chest. Something deep inside chanted at her to stand on tiptoe and press her lips to his.

"You really mean to court me—in the close confines of a ship—right under Will's nose?"

"True, it sounds like a nigh impossible task, but I am Captain Jack Sparrow…"

Elizabeth chuckled rather wickedly. "I think Will would run you through within a month if you tried. He's naïve, but not stupid."

"I like a challenge." Jack changed tactics. "I noticed you haven't outright stated you would be unreceptive to my overtures."

She opened her eyes then, finding Jack impossibly close. She could see every detail of his coffee-colored eyes, the smudge of kohl about them that made him look so fierce, the fine lines at their corners that only at this range belied his true age.

God, but he was beautiful.

It simply wasn't fair.

She was frozen to the spot, torn between the urge to stay and the urge to run for her life.

The fact of the matter was, she had her doubts about she and Will Turner. Not of her love for him. No, loving a boy like Will was the easiest thing in the world. What she doubted was herself. What she doubted was that she deserved a man like Will. She was not good, like he was. Nor, was she simple. She craved—more. It was something she only admitted in the deepest dark of night, after waking from a nightmare of confinement in a small cottage with three crying brats tugging on her skirts, the dishes piling up, supper burnt on the stove and laundry waiting to be done in a pile by the door…

Elizabeth craved adventure. She craved the salty breeze blowing through her hair, and the sway of the deck a ship beneath her feet. She craved the ring of her sword clashing with another, and the dark swell of triumph in beating an opponent because she was faster, better, meaner…

She feared it was exactly as Jack said. She was a pirate, and Will Turner was a saint. A more disastrous match could never be made, because she didn't want to be redeemed.

Before she knew it, Elizabeth lifted herself on tiptoe, pressing her lips to Jack Sparrow's with gusto. The ardor behind her kiss almost took Jack aback.

Almost.

His heart sang as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he slanted his mouth over hers. He'd envisioned their first kiss as a tentative thing, a curious brush of lips, perhaps just a little taste of tongue… But this was an onslaught. This was battle. This was what they were, he realized, and he groaned deep in his chest as Elizabeth opened her mouth to him, allowing him inside. A hand crept up to fist in her hair, tilting her head back to an almost painful angle as he pillaged her mouth, soft lips somehow simultaneously generous and punishing. She gripped the lapels of his jacket, holding him closer.

Finally they surfaced for air with a gasp, and Elizabeth trembled as she extricated herself from Jack's arms, her knees turned to jelly. She didn't know how she managed to walk, much less regain her posture, holding her head at that haughty angle that somehow both infuriated and thrilled Jack. She looked over her shoulder at the sufficiently flummoxed Captain Sparrow. In the most dignified tone she could muster, as though they were in her father's drawing room and not the great cabin of the Black Pearl, she said, "You have one year, Captain Sparrow."

Jack watched her exit the cabin on those long legs, closing the door gently behind her, with eyes wide as saucers, his breath coming too quickly. Immediately he collapsed back in his carved wood desk chair. Slowly, a satisfied smile spread wide upon his lips. Lips, that had just been on her lips. He touched his mouth with wonder, rather in awe.

One year.

More than enough time. Look at what he'd achieved in the span of one night and half a day!

His palm chose that moment to ache, and ruefully he looked to his bandaged hand, daring to peek under the linen.

The black spot persisted, and he sighed.

If he could just live through this day, he amended, he would have the best year of his life.

A/N: For the moment this is intended to be a oneshot… But maybe not? Heh. What do you think? Your comments are always so very appreciated, dear readers! Hope you enjoyed! :D