Work Text:
Author: Elizabeth Wilde
Title: Better Off
Rating: PG
Pairing: Will/Elizabeth, Will/Jack
Summary: Elizabeth and Will think of how things have changed... and why they're better off.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean unfortunately. I also do not own the brilliant
song "Gates of the Country" which inspired me to write this. Also unfortunately.
Distribution: Let me know and you're welcome to it, http://www.biteyourtongue.net/wilde
[my archive]
Notes: I wasn't going to do this until I finished a few other fics, then I was listening to my
Black Lab CD and I had to. Everything in ~~s is lyrics.
Finished: July 16th, 2003
~~where have you been?
who were you running with?
wasn't he someone you used to call home?
where is the ring?
where is the boy who went traveling alone?~~
After awhile, they stopped asking. No one questioned why Will left any longer. They had finally
learned after years of torment that I would not answer. They kept their gossip private instead
and whispered to themselves that had I not let him into my bed so soon, we never would have
separated. "A fine match spoiled," I heard a dozen times, all from horrible old women who told
me a million times that Will was not good enough. "Someone of your bloodline marrying a
blacksmith? And what of that lovely Commodore Norrington?"
I kept my silence and my secrets and finally they quieted. They left me to my pain. It hurt
losing him. It hurt living without him. Even before we confessed any deeper feeling, I felt
connected to Will. I felt he was part of me, and when he left, he took that part away.
I shall tell you what I never told them. I shall tell you why he left.
Jack returned. I knew he would. We both did. Of course he would. Strange, unspoken promises and
an odd thread I could never pinpoint bound us together. When he returned, Will began to drift.
He held me and kissed me in the dark just as he had for months previously, and we still spoke of
when to hold the wedding, where, what plans. When I looked into his eyes, though, I saw a
distance. I saw the sea.
I saw Jack.
He loved me. He meant to marry me. I know. It is not delusion, no lie to comfort myself on
lonely nights. Will Turner loved me as much as I love him. He loved Jack as well. He loved the
sea. In his heart, he longed for the sort of adventure he always pretended to loathe. I let him
leave because he could have it. As a good daughter, a noble woman, I stayed behind. I let him
leave to live our dream. Yes, I miss him. I long for him. My heart and body burn, and my bed
remains empty. I think of telling Norrington yes to make him stop asking for my hand. I never
do. I never will.
Seeing my unhappiness and pain, my father took me everywhere. We traveled. Everything was carefully
planned, of course, and safe enough, but he knew my desire. I accept his pity because it
distracts me from my pain and it eases his. All the while, I watch the sea and wonder if he
thinks of me the same way.
~~she is much better without me.
she walks through the gates of the country
hands at her side
and i smile as i watch her walk by.
somehow i see there are ships in her eyes.
she is better off now.~~
"You can go back if you want."
"I know."
"Won't, will you?"
"No. She never should have been with me to begin with. She can do- No, I know. She didn't want
better. She wanted me."
"Loved you, more like."
"I know. I love her as well, but... it got complicated. You complicate things."
"Been told that."
"Whoever told you was right. You are more trouble than anyone else I have ever known."
"But?"
"But I love you, Jack."
"Love you too."