Hey guys this is a one shot that I dreamed up while I was sputtering about trying to write Improbable chapter 3! This isn't tied into anything that I've written and it's presumably in the point of view of Elizabeth! A little bit of a motif this is, but I'm good with it- I kinda like it. I had absolutely no idea that this would end up like it did and it was AWESOME to see it write itself! That hasn't happened in a long time! Perhaps the muse had returned! LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS LITTLE ANGST/BROOD THING. I'm a review whore, we know that now.

I DISCLAIM the rights to the movie or actors or whatever else. whoo.

In Which I Follow

I remember the day that Captain Jack Sparrow came in to port. How could I not? It was the day that my destiny branched, and I had the opportunity to choose where my life would go.

The first path, easy and boring, was that of Commodore Norrington. To this day I wonder what might have happened had I not fallen from the battlements. Would I have accepted? smiled and nodded before watching the older man grin and make an announcement? My life from there on would have been blissful through the eyes of any other high-society woman.

I would smile my widest, dress my most formal, and show off my best. I'd sit all day stitching, watching my children being taught, disciplined and raised by a maid. I'd watch over the skivvy maids and make sure dinner was on the table when my dear husband returned. I'd sit and wait for him to return home from whatever mission he'd been elected to be Commodore of and we'd grow old separately.

One day, I'd wake up and look around me at what I'd accomplished. I'd see my children leaving home and marrying into more high-society families, I'd see fine linen and clothing donning my fine handiwork and I'd see that Mr. James Commodore and I had drifted further apart than if we'd never married at all. He'd retire old and rich and I'd be at his right hand, if only for looks.

My father always told me I was too hot-headed and audacious for my own good. I know that he was right and that I'd never fit into the Commodore's life.

So I can thank the corset that suffocated me and caused me to fall off of the battlements- straight into a Pirates Life.

My fall eventually led me to another path I could have chosen. Captain Jack Sparrow, after a long line of threats and sugar-coated-insults, saved my life. Had it not been for him, I'd never have been able to come to a courting position with Will Turner. The boy I helped save from a shipwreck, the boy that I ran off to and played games with until I was caught and until my eventual learning of etiquette. The man I first fell in love with and the man that saved my life.

With him, the pirate-turned-blacksmith, I'd prepare my own dinners, raise my own children, love my husband and realize certain dreams. I'd talk Will into running off on adventures if only in our minds, and I'd idolize the men who came and left in our ports. Will would give me everything his shy heart could fathom, and I'd always be happy.

Then again, my father always said that I was too bold and vibrant for my own good, and again, I know that he was right. I'd never fit into the blacksmith's life.

So I can thank the intuition that led me to run and jump off of the battlements just after the crowd left.

I left my heavy dress behind and swam like I had never before to catch up with the path that I wanted. I had to argue and beg, but I know that Sparrow couldn't have forced me to leave again even if he wanted to. He wanted to keep me with him on the Pearl.

He was so determined on the island the night we had been abandoned- had he been sober, I would have been frightened. (Though I can't be certain of this- I might have been flattered.)

Now, in my life, I've learned the trades of sailing and thievery, I've learned to survive on my own like Anna Maria, and I've been just fine. I've chased after adventure I've longed for more than I can wrap my hands around. I've seen the world and I finally know what freedom is.