Title: By Land and By Sea
Author: Tamara
Email: tamara@bitchenvy.com
Rating: R - Jack/Will, Will/Elizabeth
Summary: He is bound to land by Elizabeth and bound to the sea by Jack.
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me, they belong to Disney.
Distribution: Want it? Email me and we'll discuss terms.
A/N: I got the idea for this from, of all things, the story of Persephone, who spent half of her time with her husband Hades and the other half on Earth with her mother. Torn between the love of two people, she is never completely whole and never completely happy. Which should be enough to tip you off that this fic here ain't all sunshine and roses.

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He knows what day it is, even before waking. He's grown amazingly perceptive in his time at sea, learning to listen to words not spoken, to see the emotions hidden behind masks of indifference and false good humor. He knows that Port Royal is close, that, in a few hours time, he will be with Elizabeth again, spending the daylight hours shaping steel into something deadly and beautiful and his nights in the soft embrace of the woman he loves.

And he misses it, he does, missing waking up next to Elizabeth in the mornings, feeling the warmth of her touch, the feel of her lips, soft and smooth and wonderful on his own. He misses her smile and the sound of her laughter, misses the sight of her milky white skin against the softness of the sheets, the taste of her tears as he makes love to her for the first time in months.

They taste salty, like the sea, and that thought is all it takes to remind him of where he is now, and how little time he has left.

Jack shifts closer to him on the bed, wraps his arms aroungd his waist, presses a kiss to the nape of his neck. There is a mournful sigh, a sound that brings tears to Will's eyes, and then he feels the whisper of fingers moving over his body, memorizing the softness of his skin, the way his muscles move beneath those questing hands, waiting impatiently for the pleasure they always bring.

For the longest time he thought the sound of Elizabeth's voice calling out his name as he slid deep inside her was the most beautiful sound he ever heard. Six months later it was surpassed by the sound of Jack calling his name as he thrust inside him, making him feel things he'd never thought possible. He thought that nothing could feel better than Elizabeth's warm, silky walls clenching around him as he made her sigh and moan with pleasure, but it paled in comparison to the warm wetness of Jack's mouth sucking him to completion.

It affects him no differently now, and when they are done, the cabin filled with the echo of their screams and the musky scent of their union, he sheds a few tears of his own.

"Six months isn't that long, luv," Jack says, but the tremor in his tone fails to make the statement convincing. "You'll be back before you know it."

Will's lips tilt up in a sad smile and he replies, "Not even long enough for you to miss me."

Even though Jack's expression never wavers, the sated smile still on his lips, his fingers still stroking his inner thigh with a laziness that belies his true intent, Will sees the emotion shift in his eyes, notices when contentment is replaced with sad resignation.

And because it kills him inside to see Jack so sad, to know it is he who has made him feel that way, Will leans forward and takes Jack's mouth with his own, kisses him hungrily, lets the passion build between them until there is nothing but fire so hot it burns him from the inside out and pleasure so sweet it makes his head spin.

When he leaves the Pearl behind, watches as it moves out of the harbor and recedes into the fog, he will have only these last few hours to keep him company on those cold nights when Elizabeth's touch, her presence in the bed beside him is not enough to keep him from wanting to be somewhere else. He does the same those nights on the Pearl when he stands at the rails, watches the sun set in the horizon, and wishes that Elizabeth could be there to share it with him.

He is bound to land by Elizabeth and the part of him that loves the feel of the grass beneath his feet, the feel of the hammer in his hand, shaping steel into deadly works of art. He is bound to the sea by Jack Sparrow and the part of him that longs to fulfill the legacy his father left for him, the promise of adventure and treasure and freedom.

And he is doomed to never be completely happy, for he cannot have one without forsaking the other, and he cannot live without either.