Double Drabble: 'Dear Victory'

[dwgm]

Two hundred words of angsty J/E, written for the Black Pearl Sails prompt of the week...



Dear Victory

How beautiful is victory, but how dear!
- Marquis Stanislas Jean de Boufflers


Gibbs was gamely trotting down the quarterdeck steps and into the joyful mêlée when Jack sensed Barbossa at his shoulder.

"I have to hand it to ye, lad. Ye knew what you were about."

Jack smiled a little and said, with what he felt was pardonable satisfaction, "I often do, Hector."

Jones and Beckett dead. The EITC armada turning tail. Will's promise and destiny fulfilled, in spite of Jack's immortal aspirations. And Jack's gaze moved to rest on a slight, still figure in gray and black, standing at the rail, looking out, toward the Dutchman. Very still, but very much alive.

"Shame about Mrs. Turner, though, ain't it?"

Jack's little smile froze on his face. A beat of silence. Then the other Jacks watched in awe as he glanced at Barbossa, and said, disinterestedly, "You married them?"

Barbossa chuckled, looking at Jack sidelong, like a cat in cream. "Aye. In the midst of it, it was. Ye would've been right amused." And he gave Jack a pat on the back before he turned away.

Jack didn't even wince, his stillness now an echo of that slim, distant figure's. And somehow he was quite sure he would not have been amused.


~.~








Many thanks to hereswith for beta reading!

Comments

[wynterhawk.livejournal.com]

Oooo, that's got to cut deeply. ;)

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I think it kind of goes with what we see at the end of AWE.

[compassrose7577.livejournal.com]

It's one of the most glaring missing scenes of AWE, and you've portrayed it stunningly!

Barbossa's taunt, and the multiple Jacks watching (seeing and knowing his weaknesses). Not amused might have only been the beginning. Maintaining his facade to the very last letter.

Another triumph!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

He's good at wearing the mask, is Jack. And he looks oddly unlike himself at the end there. One too many blows, perhaps?

Thank you for reading and commenting! And now that that's out of my system, I'm scurrying back to yours!

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Gotta love Barbossa. The man grows on me more all the time. ;-)

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

LOL! Yes, he's my niece's favorite character -- she should love this one. *g*

*needs Barbossa icon*

[captaintish]

Oh, WOW. Poor Jack. Everything seemed to looking good, and then he finds out about the marriage. Gives me a new angle to look at the wedding scene -- Barbossa "looking at Jack sidelong, like a cat in cream.

As much as I love that wedding scene -- "Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today...." -- classic, I have to admit things could have worked out much easier for Jack/Elizabeth without that little ceremony.

Great drabble.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I love the wedding scene too, and in fact I love Elizabeth and Will together. But not the way it ended up, one day every ten years. And it seems to me, she and Jack could make a go of it. Which is why we write fanfiction, I guess.

Thank you for the quick feedback -- I'm glad you liked this.

[djarum99.livejournal.com]

Oh, painful, in the best possible way :-) I can absolutely see this in the midst of that scene - Barbossa wouldn't miss the opportunity.

"I have to hand it to ye, lad. Ye knew what you were about."

Jack smiled a little and said, with what he felt was pardonable satisfaction, "I often do, Hector."

Jones and Beckett dead. The EITC armada turning tail. Will's promise and destiny fulfilled, in spite of Jack's immortal aspirations. And Jack's gaze moved to rest on a slight, still figure in gray and black, standing at the rail, looking out, toward the Dutchman. Very still, but very much alive.

It's easy to overlook Jack's craft and competence, beneath that mask of madness - I loved this. Wonderful drabble ♥ ♥

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think Jack was really just starting to find his way back to sanity (or his usual version of it) at the end of the movie. Thank goodness for fanfic.

Glad you liked Barbossa. I could just hear him doing that.

[torn-eledhwen.livejournal.com]

Oooh, nice gapfilling. Poor Jack.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And yes, poor Jack. Things didn't turn out quite the way he planned.

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

That was a nice little look on things. Close to the truth to, I would guess.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Close to the truth to, I would guess.

Possibly. There's an awful lot of missing information in AWE, for all its three hour running time.

Glad you enjoyed this one! Thanks for commenting.

[komandant-krech.livejournal.com]

Heh, Barbs sure knows how to twist the knife...

Great piece, very poignant -- this should have been in the movie as well!

(Drabbles in general amaze me -- I could never write one myself; to express so much with so few words.)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Drabbles are HARD. I tend to have diarrhea of the fingers, so scaling myself back to say something meaningful in 100 words is nigh impossible (sometimes it's hard in 10,000 words).

[awickedwench.livejournal.com]

"Shame about Mrs. Turner, though, ain't it?"

Really enjoyed this! After this and your Christmas drabbles, I'm wishing for something a *little* longer. Your voices and characterization are perfect!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I have a couple of longer stories I'll be working on, presently, but I have reading, commenting, editing, and some website stuff to take care of, too. Still, I get antsy if I don't write for a while, so I may have to allocate a bit of time to that, too.

Very happy you liked this one! Thank you for letting me know!

[hendercats.livejournal.com]

Oh ... that pause, that half-second-too-long silence of Jack's ... (*whimpers*) Perfect.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I could just imagine Barbossa passing on that bit of news to Jack in his inimitable manner.

[breathless-dawn.livejournal.com]

Ooh I love this. Seems just like Barbossa to do something like that.

Jack's little smile froze on his face. A beat of silence. Then the other Jacks watched in awe as he glanced at Barbossa, and said, disinterestedly, "You married them?"

And the thrill of victory drops like a stone, eh? Poor Jack. Loved the pause and how he maintains his facade. Classic Jack.

Perfect. Brava!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Poor Jack. Loved the pause and how he maintains his facade. Classic Jack.

I'd certainly rather interpret his reactions at the end of the film as masking his emotions, rather than indifference.

Glad you liked Barbossa here. He's a great villain, and really fun to write.

[ditte3.livejournal.com]

Short but wonderful.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

[bellbubble.livejournal.com]

Sweet, yet heartbreaking. Poor Jack, and Lizzie of course. Also, there's something about Barbossa, something thoroughly likable and unnameable, and you've got it so right! Great story!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you thought it fit what we are given in the movie.

[gea-luv.livejournal.com]

Ugh! That was so well written!!

I'd always wondered how it was Jack found out about the W/E marriage and your interpretation was pretty believable on how things might have went. I really liked Jack's reaction, you could just feel the sting of it for the poor boy.

Anyhoo, enjoyed it :)

Gea

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you thought it believable. That Barbossa...!

[hope27.livejournal.com]

Beautiful and heartbreaking! Wonderful characterization of Jack and what he must have been feeling.

Thanks for sharing! :)

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

You're welcome -- thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it!

[piratehayley94.livejournal.com]

That was sad!! and heartwreching*if thats a word lol* bout made me cry.

loved the way you made the multi jacks in it.....{sniff} very good!!

~thanks

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

So happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for letting me know.

[writemeadream.livejournal.com]

Dear Lord, that was utterly amazing! That end sentence. Ah Barbossa. :D

[(Anonymous)]

Absolutely beautiful. None of the voices or characterizations are overdone. Your voices are perfect.

[lady-di75.livejournal.com]

Jack's little smile froze on his face. A beat of silence. Then the other Jacks watched in awe as he glanced at Barbossa, and said, disinterestedly, "You married them?"

Disinterestedly, you say? The hell, you say... such a punch you packed in a few careful turns of phrase!!

And, naturally, it would be Barbossa that casually breaks the news. Perfect.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

And, naturally, it would be Barbossa that casually breaks the news.

Since he was the one who married them, I thought it logical that he would've thought to casually mention it to Jack.

Oh, the angst!

So happy you liked it. ;)

[tanith75.livejournal.com]

*thud*

That's me hitting the floor in a teary heap.

The last line is perfection.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I think it goes with what we see in those final scenes. There's something there... but he's very good at wearing the mask.

Glad you liked it!

[reneeks.livejournal.com]

I love happy ending stuff too. J/E/W is great to me. A lot of people keep saying the majority of J/E shippers/writers hate Will. I haven't seen this!! I, and most J/E authors I read, are good to Will, and love him too. I like when Will tells Jack or Elizabeth in a fic that because of his situation, he understands the two of them needing/wanting/loving each other. I just wasn't able to accept J/E for a bit after AWE because I knew she wouldn't do anything to condemn Will for eternity if she could free him by waiting ten years faithfully. 10 years is doable. But if they are now saying the curse can never be broken, Will couldn't possibly expect her to live waiting for only 4 or 5 one-day meetings for the rest of her life. He's not like that. We saw that at the end of DMC when he thought Elizabeth loved Jack, and he asked if there was anything that could be done to bring him back. Which, by the way, I find a little weird he asked that. Because no-one knew at that point that anything COULD be done, and doesn't it just seem strange to say that? It would be like if my brother died and I said to my mom,
"If anything could be done to bring him back...." Well, of course she'd say yes, but it seems a really really weird thing to say without knowing that there WAS a way, as Will didn't know there was a way when he said that. Sorry. That's been bugging me for a while. Haha.
So really now, what is it supposed to be? Can the curse be broken by Elizabeth being faithful for 10 years, or not?!?

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I will, occasionally, see J/E shippers write negative things about Will, which always disturbs me because as much as I love Jack, Will is a great character and essential to the movies' plots, too. I quite agree that he wouldn't want Elizabeth to spend her life waiting for that one day every ten years, barely a flash of time to his immortal self in any case.

After AWE came out and Will's (and by extension, Elizabeth's) fate upset so many fans, the writers claimed on their website that their intention was that Will's term as captain would be up after then years, if Elizabeth was waiting, and that a scene to that effect was cut from the final film. However, according to what was said (by three different characters) in AWE, and in the literature that came with the DVD, the job of CotFD is forever, with one day on land every ten years. So we're all working our way around that awful fate, and certainly there's nothing wrong with going A/U, along with TnT.

Thanks for reading, and for the thoughtful comments!

[obfusc8er.livejournal.com]

Oh dear.

*g*

Yeah, that had to be a really harsh moment.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought. :-/

[p0wdermonkey.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering how Jack found out. Having Barbossa tell him is perfect. That is now my fanon - thank you!I've been wondering how Jack found out. Having Barbossa tell him is perfect. That is now my fanon - thank you!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Having Barbossa tell him is perfect.

I can't see Hector passing that up. Glad you thought it worked!

*longs for more 'Nuts' series, or virtually any other p0wdermonkey brilliance*

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. Yes, a glaring missing scene, and a tumble for Jack. No wonder he's hot foot to get out of there!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

No wonder he's hot foot to get out of there!

It seems logical, given the content of that goodbye scene.

Thanks for commenting!!

Victory

[pearlseed.livejournal.com]

Miz Geekmama, are you as tenderhearted as you write? You write the sweetest conversation between Jack and Hector, well, since the one on the beach with the Kraaken. Then, the last blow of the battle, Jack's discovery about Elisabeth and Will and how that will affect the rest of his life. Less is more in your capable hands, what a dear, dark moment in the lght of victory.

Re: Victory

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Ms. Pearlseed, I just love your comments! They always sound straight from the heart, and it's a gift to be able to convey that. I'm so happy you enjoyed the double drabble. Thank you for letting me know.