One Shot: Playing Truant

[honorat]

One-shot: Playing Truant
By Honorat
Rated: PG
Pairing: Will/Elizabeth
Warning: SPOILERS
Disclaimer: If I weren’t crazy, this would never work.

Summary: SPOILERS. Sometimes a new job can bring surprises. My first post-AWE plot bunny. This one is just a little fluffy bunny, too. I haven't seen the movie, but have been most thoroughly spoilt.

Thanks to geek_mama_2 for the betaing.

* * * * *

Tiny souls, like flickering, fading beacons against the immense darkness of storm and sea, call to him. They reach into the space which once contained his heart and twist with adamantine chains drawing him to them. This night is no exception.

One life, bright and alone in all that vast expanse of water. No wreckage of ship on or below the surface of the sea. Perhaps this sailor has been swept overboard, his ship gone on unheeding.

He watches, silent and implacable, as his men haul the gasping, shivering wretch aboard.

Stoicism flees before astonishment as he realizes the drenched shoulders are shaking neither with exhaustion nor with terror but with—laughter?

One stride and his hand grips slender, calloused, impossibly familiar fingers. Wet hair flies aside like tattered shreds of sails revealing those dark, lightning-flashing eyes that have always spoken of the sea and endless horizons to him.

“Do you fear death?” she prompts him—as though his speechlessness is mere forgetfulness.

A stupid query. He already knows the answer. This woman has always taken fear in her teeth and crushed it.

He does not question this gift of the gods, but pulls her into his embrace, fierce and hungry, breathing her name against her hair: “Elizabeth!”

When at last they emerge from the sweet flames of a starving kiss for breath, for tears, for laughter, for words that swirl and tumble like breakers on a beloved shore—home and heart’s desire in the midst of unmapped waves—he asks her how this is possible. What reprieve of his ten year sentence have they been granted and at what cost?

Her eyes sparkle and the corners of her mouth quirk with that adorable mischievousness that has from childhood accompanied all her circumventing of the restrictions her guardians attempted to place on her desires.

“But Will,” she says, her voice all impish cajolery, “that was ten years before we meet on land. No one said anything at all about on water.”

He should have known she would find a way around, under or through any curse.

That night across the seven seas, no tempests rage, all ships sail in sweet peace, and the moon shines kindly on the love of the Captain of the Flying Dutchman and his Bride.

Comments

[demishock.livejournal.com]

...I've missed your writing so much. T_T Beautiful, as always.

Hope things are going all right for you. :)

[eken95.livejournal.com]

Oh I so love this.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

*glomps long-unheard from reader* I've missed participating in this community a lot, too. I'm glad you enjoyed this.

My life is going fine right now. I've just been swamped this year with having a baby! Time to write is at a premium.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much.

[demishock.livejournal.com]

*glomps back* I checked back every couple of days. :D Glad I did.

Oh my gosh, congratulations! That's super exciting! But I can certainly see how that would take up a lot of writing time. ;P

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yes. YES. This is what I'm looking for to resolve the end of that movie. *squee*

[bombazzinedoll.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is wonderful. +♥. And it's wonderful to see you back! I've missed your contributions to fandom, m'dear, though I hope the baby is doing well!

And THANK YOU for pointing out that Elizabeth isn't going to just veg out in between visits! There seems to be this faction of fandom which holds to the misperception that Lizzie has been transmogrified into some land-locked repressed June Cleaver figure by the end of AWE. Why, I ask you! Why?!

[the-kelpsinator.livejournal.com]

This is lovely! I had the same thought--what would keep them from meeting on water? Good job!

[evilmissbecky.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm so glad I read this. It takes away some of my bitter hatred toward the end of the movie itself. Thank you.

[virgo-79.livejournal.com]

Beautiful, fabulous, story Honorat. And I, like Miss Becky, am not overly fond of what the curtain came down on in this trilogy, so thank you for taking a development that left a bad taste in my mouth and weaving such a delightful, sweet, upbeat tale from it.

This woman has always taken fear in her teeth and crushed it.

Oh my goodness, it seems it's time again to break out The Adjective. :D I'm full of love for this sentence. How true.

**sigh** I wish I still loved MovieWill as much as I love FicWill.

Glad you're back and congratulations!

[rennie1265.livejournal.com]

Very happy to hear your great news, what a wonderful event in your life (not to mention all the fun things that go with a little one). I was wondering why Elizabeth couldn't just go meet up with Will at sea, after all, she has no such restrictions. Like the others, I am not happy about certain events in AWE but as has been shown in other episodes of PotC, the end is not necessarily the end. Besides, that's what AU's are for. Take care.

[torn-eledhwen.livejournal.com]

Really lovely! She would find a way around the rules, of course.

[jackfan2.livejournal.com]

Just got back from my second viewing of AWE and the end, when Will is stabbed, again left me shocked. The tragedy and yet the miracle of their future, of Will and Elizabeth and the journey they took, and then the end, once again, I nearly cried at the enormity of it all.

Your story here.. *sighs* that just put it all to rights. Thank you for writing this and giving it the artistic, caring, lyrical touch your writing has.

[erinrua.livejournal.com]

This? Is perfect. I said so in BPS and I'll say it again - having seen AWE today, this is the ending I'll imagine. This just *fits*. I love it. And I'm so glad to see you back. And baby? Did I miss something, LOL? Congratulations, Mommy Honorat! *HUGS*

And thanks again for the wonderful gift of your words. This is the perfect stroke to end the story. ;-)
Cheers ~

Erin

[ktoth04.livejournal.com]

o ♥

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I just couldn't imagine Elizabeth, who has never done what she's supposed to in her entire life, just knuckling under such a stricture. Will would keep a stiff upper lip and endure for that one day, but Elizabeth is the kind to wring a lot more out of life than life had planned on doling out. Oh yes, the two of them will be together as soon as she finds a loophole. :D

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. It's wonderful to be back. I've missed you all, too. The baby is doing great.

As for Elizabeth, I agree. If all the years of Governor Swann trying to turn her into land-locked repressed June Cleaver figure didn't succeed, why would anything else do it?

[kristydi.livejournal.com]

"No one said anything at all about on water."

Almost the exact words that went through my mind in the theater when Will turned up as captain of the Dutchman. Elizabeth has always been about breaking the rules and the movie failed to give her a compelling reason to stay on land.

I was honestly expecting her to row over to the Dutchman and join the crew. Still can't figure out why she didn't. What's holding her back?

Anyway. Great fic! Very, very Elizabeth.

[elerrina-amanya.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent, beautiful, wonderful! After the first hour or so of complete shock and devastation—"How could they do that to them?—I started planning out how the ten-year inconvenience could be avoided. Thank you so much for putting one of those scenarios into words, and such lovely words at that =)
They reach into the space which once contained his heart and twist with adamantine chains drawing him to them.
Amazing image, as is the silent and implacable Will. Love how Elizabeth immediately cracks Will's "stern Captain" veneer.
dark, lightning-flashing eyes that have always spoken of the sea and endless horizons to him.
Loved the juxtaposition, and the fact that Elizabeth has been the sea to Will—lovely parallel with the Davy Jones story.
Actually, I want to highlight pretty much the entire text, so I'll leave it at that.
Well done, again—just what I needed to know happened during the credits ;)
Oh, and congratulations on the baby—I'm so impressed you managed to find any writing time at all!

[captaintish]

I already reviewed this over at fanfiction.net, but I thought I'd just add to the discussion here, too.

Unlike a lot of people apparently, I wasn't devastated by the end of the movie. I actually thought it was a pretty good ending. But I do like to think that Will and Elizabeth will see plenty of each other during the ten years. Can't he stand in a bucket on land, like Davy Jones did in the parlay scene? :)

Again, glad to see you back, and again, congratulations on your baby!

[penknife.livejournal.com]

Aww! This is charming.

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's lovely...

[morgulq.livejournal.com]

Heh...I can't escape the feeling that, if there was a way around the loopholes, Lizzie would get herself a lover. 10 years is a hell of a long time, after all...

[leia-naberrie.livejournal.com]

Nice story!

Your icon here looks like Elizabeth *and* Tia Dalma. Did you know?

[reneeks.livejournal.com]

Yeah! Like Jack!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I am strolling through my journal archives making sure I respond to everyone who was kind enough to comment. I know in the last couple of years, my life has been so crazy that I’ve missed a lot. My apologies.

Thank you so much for responding. If Davy Jones could get around his curse in a bucket of water, I'm sure Elizabeth will think of something.