Author's Note: The Epilogue, yay! The end of everything. Review when you're done, I want your final feedback. This one's longer. Enjoy!!! ;D
Disclaimer: Elizabeth Sparrow is such a nice name. And it would already be her name if I owned it.
Elizabeth smiled blissfully out at the sea, her golden hair now slightly tinged with gray.
It had been twenty-five years. Twenty-five, wonderful, adventurous years. She'd loved every one.
Jack was old now; he no longer was the ravaging pirate that she came to love. He had the same spirit, of coarse, but he couldn't be the same young man. He still had the dreadlocks, but they were also tinged with silver; the years were beginning to catch up with him.
They had grinned and laughed and loved, cried and yelled and hated. Their children were grown (or nearly). The oldest, Steven, was twenty. He was identical to Jack, and he had the same fierce, wild pride about him that charmed almost every young lady in Tortuga. Matthew was next, and at eighteen, he already had a good number of flames. Just like me, Jack would sometimes say. Elizabeth had never seen a man who loved his children more.
Next were the twins, Lisa and Lily. They had always loved the sea, were never frightened by heights and had gone on many voyages on ships without their mother's permission, dressed as men with an matching smirk on each face. Both were sixteen, with golden hair and their father's smile. They'd never liked corsets or dresses of any type. Elizabeth grinned every time she thought of that.
Jack went on a voyage every once in a while; the Pearl was usually in Steven's command, and he was a good captain. Jack was typically charting courses for the ship, a stand in in case Steven couldn't captain.
Jack and Elizabeth had gotten a small house on the coast of the sea, and it often wasn't inhabited due to the family being on a voyage. But today, everyone was home, and Elizabeth was sitting on the balcony watching the sea. It still never ceased to amaze her.
William Turner had moved on; he had fallen in love with a woman and became captain of a ship, and she hadn't heard from him since. Lord Beckett had been killed in a cross fire between a pirate and the East India Trading Company about fifteen years ago. James Norrington had once again lost his post when Beckett was killed, and he had left the Caribbean, and Elizabeth heard that he was the governor of a new town up north. And Davy Jones was demolished and the curse of the Flying Dutchman had been lifted. Bootstrap had gone and joined his son in pirating.
Elizabeth looked down for a moment at her lap and then smiled and picked up the object that she unknowingly had taken.
The compass.
Even after twenty-five years, the compass looked almost exactly the same. She fingered the ebony surface, closing her eyes and remembering.
"True enough, this compass does not point north."
"Where does it point?"
"It points to the thing you want most in this world…"
Elizabeth opened her eyes and lifted the lid.
The needle swung for a moment, before choosing a spot, directly behind her. She turned and looked, and there he was.
"Jack! You scared me! You shouldn't do that…"
He grinned the same grin that she fell in love with, and bent down and kissed her cheek.
"Couldn't resist, love…"
He took a seat next to her, and she marveled at how he looked almost exactly the same. Yes, the hair was more silver and there were more wrinkles on his face, but she thought he looked as young as the day she met him. She touched his hand.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes, love, it is."
"I love you."
"And I you, my Lizzie."
He still called her that. And it still made her shiver with delight every time.
"Can you believe all of this?"
"What, darling?"
"Just…all of this. Sometimes I wake up still thinking I'm twenty. I mean, it all changed so fast. Yesterday, Steven was born. I mean, I blinked and he was ten, and I blinked once more and here we are. I should stop blinking."
Jack chuckled softly.
"But you don't regret it, do you?"
"Not a moment of it. I just can't believe that it went so fast. It was wonderful, and I want to go back a relive it sometimes. It's unfair, though, because we can't. You know what I mean?"
"Yes, I do, love. And sometimes I want to go back when I was the regular captain of the Pearl. I want to kiss you for the first-well, maybe second-time again. And make love to you like when we were young. I do, Lizzie. But we can't, so it'd be best to just remember and live on."
A tear slipped down her cheek without her realizing it. He wiped it away with his thumb and kissed her. Elizabeth felt him caress her cheek like when they were young and flirting on the Pearl. Memories came rushing back.
"You will come over to my side, I know it."
Elizabeth smiled. She had.
'You seem very certain."
How could she have doubted it? 'Denial,' She told herself.
"One word, love. Curiosity. You long for freedom. You want to do what you want to do because you want it. To act on selfish impulse. You want to see what it's like. One day, you won't be able to resist."
Why was Jack always painstakingly right?
"Why doesn't your compass work?""My compass works fine…"
"Because you and I are alike, there will come a moment when you have a chance to show it. To do the right thing."
"I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by."
She still rolled her eyes every time she thought of that.
"You'll do something courageous. And when you do, you'll discover something. That you're a good man."
"All evidence to the contrary."
"No, I have faith in you. Want to know why?"
"Do tell, dearie."
"Curiosity. You're going to want it."
Elizabeth remembered the look he gave her when she said that. He had turned slightly and looked down at her lips. Up, and then down again. It was then that she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"A chance to be admired, and gain the rewards that follow. You won't be able to resist."
At that point, she had gone oh so close to his face, teasing him, making his face twitch a little. She smiled slightly.
"You're going to want to know…what it tastes like."
Then he'd said the most appealing words she'd ever heard him say.
"I do want to know what it tastes like…"It had taken all of her self-control not to grab his collar and kiss him right there. She had settled with playful banter.
"But, seeing as you're a good man, I know that you would never put me in a position that would compromise my honor…"
He would've kissed her, he said later. But that thing had returned on his hand, so he didn't.
"I'm proud of you, Jack.
She wasn't.
But that was years ago. 'Time to move on,' Elizabeth thought. She leaned her head on Jack's shoulder, and together, they watched the sunset.
A/N: Wow. It is now officially over. I typed out that whole scene without reference to the movie. I've watched it way too much. Anyway, I want to thank all of my reviewers, because you guys gave me inspiration and kept me going. I don't where this would be without your help, so thanks, guys. This is my first multi-chapter story. I might write other little drabbles from this universe, so if you want something specific, contact me or something. I don't know. We'll see. I wish AWE would do something like this, but it's doubtful. Ah well. It can be true in my imagination. Now review -for the final time!!!!