Lagoon

Cabin

She sat on Jack's bed, staring at her knees, trying to process everything that had just happened. It felt like she had crossed an entire sea of change in her life within a few hours, the jarring feeling eating away at her, her mind unable to make sense of it.

The only thing that did make sense was the man sitting at the desk a few feet away, the candlelight sharpening the angles of his face, dancing in his ebony eyes, saturating the trinkets and beads in his hair, making them glow and glitter. His lips were set together firmly, the beautiful lips that could do so many things to her, caress her own with the most tender of touches, bring her blinding pleasure when they ventured to her most intimate areas. His jaw was tight, his eyes hard, stony with still simmering anger, narrowed with the presence of a thousand fractured thoughts and ruminations that were clearly running through his mind.

He hadn't looked this serious, this sober, for a long time. In fact, the last time that she had seen him like this was in the cave on Isla de Muerta, just after he had shot Barbossa.

The idea of trying to say something to him had nearly come to fruition several times, but she wasn't sure if he wanted to talk at that moment, wasn't sure what he wanted to do at all. Her temples hurt, a dull throbbing, the evidence of overwhelming emotion threatening to spill to the surface with the slightest prodding.

Finally, she decided that instead of sitting there in silence, guessing, it might be easier to just ask him.

"What...what are you thinking about?"

His eyes slowly slid over to her, as though he had been waiting for her, waiting for her to say something.

"...Too many things, love."

"Oh. Do you want me to...do you want me to go?"

A strange expression came over his face, as though he wasn't sure if he had heard her right, and then his eyes softened, shedding the shield that he had put around himself.

"Go? No, 'course not. Just have questions, a lot of thoughts, up here," he paused to tap his head, "and 'm not sure how to go about finding the answers."

"What kind of questions?"

He pushed his chair back, standing up to walk across the room to sit next to her, immediately heaving a tired sigh.

"It might be better if we forget I had questions at all, actually."

"...Why?"

His hand came up to cover his face for a moment.

"Because the second I ask them, you are going to think I am daft for even having them in the first place."

She realized in that moment what it was that he was worried about, and felt silly for not seeing the obvious earlier. Scooting closer to him, she turned his face to look at her with a gentle nudge of her hand.

"I don't regret you, Jack. There is nothing I would do differently, nothing I would change. Every choice I made ended up leading me to you, and you are the best thing that has happened to me...well, ever."

Surprise entered his eyes just before they broke contact with hers.

"Didn't realize I had my thoughts written on my face, love."

"I'm in love with you. It's my job to try and understand what is going on in that complicated head of yours."

The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half-smile, and the last remnants of anger retreated, but his face grew serious once more anyway.

"You know I would never hurt you, right?"

'Like Will' were the unspoken words, hanging in the air between them.