He didn't need to speak for her to know he was there. She smiled in spite of herself.

"Hello, Jack."

"Evenin', love."

He came to stand beside her, resting his elbows on the railing, mimicking her stance. Feeling him so close sent familiar chills up her spine. He always had that effect on her. And he knew it.

"What's next for the infamous Jack Sparrow?" She asked teasingly, trying to stay in somewhat control of the conversation.

"Captain, love, Captain Jack Sparrow--"

"Of what ship, may I ask?"

"Well...I'm workin' on that predicament. But for now, I intend to consume an excessive amount of the splendid beverage that is rum, until I am so rat-arsed I can barely remember me own name."

They stood in silence for what seemed like ages, both bathed in the oranges, reds, and yellows of the sun slowing sinking into the horizon, ironically echoing the night of their first intimate encounter. Much to her annoyance, she felt her throat tighten, and clenched her jaw as she struggled to fight back her emotions.

She knew this was good-bye.

"So this is it then, is it?" She kept her gaze firmly fixed on the horizon. She couldn't look at him. Not yet.

"I suppose it is."

"...I love you, you know."

"...I know."

A smile played on her lips again.

"I thought maybe if I waited, if I was patient...I was a fool to dream of the impossible. You would always leave. And I was always left to wonder what I had done wrong, if there was more I could have done to make you want to stay." She could feel his gaze on her as she watched a small flock of gulls soar towards the ocean.

"You hurt me, Jack."

She finally turned to look at him, and his dark eyes skimmed over her face with guilt. Her smile faded as he reached out a hand to touch her soft hair.

"But I suppose I allowed myself to be hurt."

"I'm sorry, love. I truly --" But she shook her head, stopping him mid-sentence.

"Don't." And she smiled at him again. He always said her smile was what won him over. Before she knew it, like so many times before, his lips were on hers, her body was crushed into his own, and his hands were weaving a familiar pattern through her hair. She kissed him back with equal intensity, tears leaving silent trails down the sides of her face. And as she allowed him to take her back into the room, and as he began to slowly and gently remove articles of clothing from her body, then laying her softly on to the bed, she knew that in the morning he would be gone. But she didn't care. At that moment she had him, and at that moment they were all that they could possibly want in the world. It was the memory of times like these that she would keep forever. The memory of her Captain Jack Sparrow.