[Fic] Night & Days, Part 3

[fairielore]

Title: Nights & Days, Part 3
Author: fairielore
Word Count: 594
Pairings: Elizabeth/James
Warnings: Implied intercourse.



It is the first and only chance he will ever get.

Elizabeth Swann came running to him, as she always used to do as a kid when things got tough, her saviour, her knight in shining armour. Since then he is the one who needs to be saved and the armour has been dirtied and sullied beyond repair. But she comes anyway, because he is the only one on this ship that she can trust wholeheartedly, knowing that he is the only one who would truly never compromise her honour.

“James, I’ve done a terrible thing.” It is quiet, but a whisper as her eyes convey her secret for her voice is too ashamed to speak it, even if he can smell rum on her breath. Though that doesn’t seem to be much of a secret either, as she clutches the bottle as if it is her only lifeline.

“It’s alright, everyone makes mistakes.” He says reassuringly, though the words taste like bile as he says them, a bitterness – everyone made mistakes but not everyone lived to recover from them. It seemed it was only pirates who got second chances, who lived to see no consequences. But instead he, who fought solely for good had dirt kicked in his face and his honour stripped. And now, even that scoundrel Jack Sparrow –

It was almost unbelievable how there were no prizes for the good but only for the damned.

“I just… oh, James, you understand how it’s like to feel lost and confused and…” And what? To have no one there for him? Yes, he knew very well how that felt. She went for a swig of rum but he plucked the bottle from her hands, instead downing half the contents himself. “You shouldn’t drink.” He warns her, like she is still a child. And in truth her actions seem to indicate she still is, acting impulsively at the first sign of trouble. Some things never changed.

“It’ll come to pass, as everything does.” At least for her, it always did. No matter what situation she found herself in there was always someone to take her mind off it or to fix the problem. There was always someone there for her.

“Will it, James?” It almost sounded like a whimper, so innocent and yet so tempting at the same time – she had to be tempting him, what else could he think as she leaned in towards him. Perhaps he could be that person, just for once. He could be selfish, just for once. After another swig of rum he kissed her, finally tired of waiting of fantasies to come true. He had to make them happen. He had to be ambitious.

The thought that haunted him most as he sprinkled kisses across her luscious skin was not the prospect that he might have been for just a second taking advantage of her, though hadn’t she done the same so many times before? But what belittled him more then any other thing was the thought that the only means he could acquire the one thing that mattered the most to him in this world were from lessons taught by Jack Sparrow.

But as the voice of an angel echoed through the wooden walls he decided that adding one more sin, one more step farther away from salvation was a small price to pay for the heaven he would bask in for one night.

In the morning, all would be forgotten. Because after all, no one remembered a man in uniform after the battle was over and done.

Comments

[redeyedfeline.livejournal.com]

That was beautiful. A bitter, haunted characterisation. LOVED the ending.

[fairielore.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you thank you! <3

I'm trying to keep myself motivated to continue this series.