Fluff Warning!
(I have absolutely no idea where this came from!)
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Elizabeth Swann, daughter of the former governor of Port Royal and a rather well educated lady, traversed the streets of the pirate port Tortuga with ease.
She was dressed as a boy and while she made for a rather pretty boy no one had really noticed anything…yet.
It was nearing midnight and the pubs and brothels bustled with customers. Sailors and merchants and pirates stumbled drunkenly from every door and alleyway.
Elizabeth stepped over a dead body and continued down another street. The 'captain' Barbossa had told her to fetch a supply of rum for the journey to Singapore and while she'd never really liked the drink she could admit it might come in handy in her current state.
That state being depressed.
Jack was dead and gone, with the loathsome Barbossa to replace him, she couldn't look at Will without feeling either guilty or incredibly angry and life was just bad.
What was there to be happy about?
Her path lead down a darker alley and the sounds of tipsy celebrations faded away. Aware of the growing danger Elizabeth gripped her cutlass tight.
Illness and poverty peered out at her from shadowed doorways and she hurried on, trying not to see the desperation in the people's eyes.
Now and then she wondered whether their lives would be her fate, to live as an outlaw forever surrounded by sickness and thievery.
She felt as if she was sinking deeper into the bottomless pit of despair that she had fallen in after Jack died.
No, after she'd killed him. It was her fault.
And on that cheerful note the Market Street eventually came into view and she eagerly strode out into the relatively fresh air. Sellers and buyers still lingered here and there, haggling loudly.
She aimed in the direction of the huge warehouses that belonged or previously belonged to the RumRunners. After that particular business had closed down, the owner of a local inn had bought of the stock and set up in a warehouse behind his inn.
"Would yeh like some flowers, guv?" Piped a young flower seller, who'd just appeared at Elizabeth's elbow.
Elizabeth was about to decline when she looked into the young waif's face. Bright blue eyes were alight with hope and a cheeky smile crossed a dirty and underfed face.
Letting a smile crease her face Elizabeth tossed a silver coin at the girl and picked up a bunch of rather tattered daisies. It had been such a long time since she'd seen flowers.
As she began to walk away the girl cried out.
"you forgot yeh change, sir."
Elizabeth was astounded at such honesty.
On the streets of Tortuga too.
"Keep it." She called over her shoulder. And with a slightly lighter heart she continued on her way.
Thinking of Jack and fingering the daisies, she began to pluck the petals off one by one, chanting a childhood rhyme under her breath.
"He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me,"
The singsong rhyme reminded her of days lying on the grass with the sun on her face and a cool glass of lemonade at hand.
"He loves me not, He loves me."
Elizabeth sighed and regarded the very last petal.
"He loves me not."
Well she had killed him, indirectly since twas the Kraken that did the deed.
Dead men don't love anyway.
But she'd hoped perhaps…
She cast away the unwelcome thoughts and picked a second daisy from the bunch.
Thinking of Will she began to strip away the petals.
In her long lost youth, she'd done this while thinking of the young blacksmith's apprentice before. Lying under the daisy bush and dreaming idly in the heat.
"He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me, He loves me not,"
Again she stared at the last petal, but this time with hope and perhaps relief stirring in her heart.
She tore away the last petal and gazed at the lonely golden head on the green stalk.
They just needed to talk, that's all. If she could forget about Jack…
"He loves me."
The words sounded clear and contented as they rolled off her tongue. He loved her, but did she love him? Doubt assailed her.
God, she wanted too, she wanted it to be simple and happy as it used to be.
Suddenly she stopped, realizing with slight astonishment that she'd arrived at her destination.
She tucked away the daisies, along with the hope and doubt that they had brought.
Elizabeth handed an order to a weedy looking young lad and waited for it to be processed.
Thoughts of a certain young blacksmith-turned-pirate lingered in her mind.
She resolved to speak to him, to laugh with him. It would take a while and they have to become friends again, but she could learn to love.
The little man came back and faced the strange, but good-looking lad.
The 'lad' had a dreamy smile playing across his lips, his eyes were misty and his faced contented.
"Master Swann, come through." He said.
Elizabeth snapped back from a happy daydream she was having. In which she said sorry and Will not only forgave her, but also professed his undying love for her.
She blushed and hurried after him.
It would work out, she just knew it.
And with that hopeful conviction the bottomless pit of despair became a little less bottomless.
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Feel free to tell me what you think :hint, hint:
Reviewers are always welcome