Since you are so honest, savvysparrow, I might as well be frank too...I could see how J/E end up together. I really can. There is a good, logical argument for them ending up together...but there are a few reasons I don't think it will be that way.
But first, let me dissect your excellent post....
Well, yes it would have been resolved, but look at how it was resolved. It was resolved with Elizabeth choosing to kiss Jack in a very passionate manner and chaining him to the mast. (You have to admit whether you're W/E or J/E that she might have picked a different way to chain him to the mast. She's a smart girl, so there was more to that decision than meets the eye).
I don't really think there was more to this decision than that she needed to trick Jack, and this was the best way to do it. Words don't work with him, she's not strong enough to force him to do it...so what is left to her? Kissing him, of course. This also ties into what Jack said, that she would want to taste what being selfish is like. Elizabeth is satisfying her own selfish curiosity. Notice that she leans in slightly, but Jack doesn't move, and instead of closing the distance, Elizabeth pulls away.
Triangle resolved. Jack didn't want her (he accepted what she had done, the same as he accepted what the crew of the Pearl did to him in the first movie), but he made no motion to touch her, to kiss her back, or to kiss her again. Now, I am not saying that he still won't have feelings for her in the third installment (once you love Elizabeth, it seems, you just don't stop), but as TnT have said, the triangle is ended. It's complete, finite, done.
Yes, Will saw the kiss (plot device!), but look at her expression immediately after kissing Jack. I don't see love, I don't see passion--at least not the kind that indicates love...I see determination, hatred and anger. After a few seconds I see regret, but there is no love.
Not only did she choose to do that, but that choice was seen by Will. Do you see why that's important? If DMC had indeed been the end, then yes, she went back to Will, but their relationship would never be the same! You can see that from his reaction as she got back into the boat. There's a rift between them that will never be healed, whether he softens towards her or not.
Of course it's changed. I don't think, once they get Jack back, that he's going to fall on his knees, declare his undying (hehe) love for Lizzie and instantly forget that she chained him up and left him to die. And I didn't expect Will to go, "Aw, shucks. She kissed Jack, but I love her so much I don't care."
His reaction was very human and realistic to what she had done. So yes, there is a rift, but I think they will eventually over-come that...especially if it all comes to the surface about what she had done. Remember, I think things would have been fixed between them if Tia had not interrupted.
I'm honestly convinced that most of this is...plot devicey. By that, I mean that all of these interruptions of Will and Elizabeth's relationship is done simply to draw out the tension, to see whether or not they will end up together.
If you've read the leaked script, and you've made comments about how Will reacts rashly, you can see that the outcome of that decision has altered forever their story. Elizabeth's decision will continue to have repercussions, mainly on the way that it's so severely effected Will. I'm not saying that they won't be able to work things out. Anything is possible, I'm just saying that I'll be surprised if they can because of some of Will's choices
I hate to even use a leaked script for a debate such as this, since the premise of my debate is based on the evidence from the first two movies, and though my knowledge of film-making is woefully inadequate, a lot of things can happen or change from a rough draft to a final script.
Quite a few of the situations may have been changed, dialogue might be entirely different, and half-way through the plot, the writers may have decided they hated everything they wrote and pitched it all (not that I have ever, ever done such a thing with anything that I've written).
IF the leaked script is true, I can see plenty of ways that the gap between Will and Elizabeth can be diminished, and how they can overcome their difficulties. I think I'll start up a thread to discuss where the script left off (Will and Jack fighting), and write out how I envision things could work from there, and then invite everyone else to come up with their ideas. Maybe we can all come up with the actual ending! Woot!
Anyway, back to this debate...I really like the questions you have about the relationship, savvysparrow, but the writers did say that the triangle was resolved. So maybe you still have questions (I still have questions about Scruffington!), but I stand by the idea that W/E will somehow end up together by the end of AWE.