Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Pirates of the Caribbean (they belong to Disney), and I don't own any of the characters from any historical reference I may or may not use (they belong to themselves). I also do not have any affiliation with any people involved in the making of the Pirates of the Caribbean. Basically, I own nothing.
Author's note: In the beginning, it basically follows the movie chronologically, but it will of course stray, because I am a HUGE Jack/Elizabeth shipper, and I will stray as much as I have to make their connection feasible, and of course make everything okay with Will (don't worry, I love Orly, too).
1712, Somewhere in the Spanish Main
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me." Ten-year-old Elizabeth Swann sang softly to herself, peering out into the eerie mist surrounding the Navy ship that had carried her from her home in London to these strange and warm waters on the way to her new home in Port Royal, Jamaica. The soft green of the water she had encountered since they'd entered the territory of this warm climate had captured Elizabeth's heart, but now she felt as though she was sailing through a ghost story. Adventurous little girl that she was, she dared herself to sing louder. "We pillage, we plunder, we steal, we thieve, drink up me hearties, yo ho-" and she ended with such a blood-curdling scream when her new step-brother, Will Turner, fourteen, snuck up behind her to startle the life out of her.
When she turned around, he was laughing at her. "I scared you!"
"Did not!" She swung at him, laughing too now, as she began to chase him around the lower deck. Of course, she would have been no more petrified if Blackbeard himself had snuck up behind her, but she could never admit that to him.
Will Turner had been her step-brother for only six months, but he had already grown to be her best friend. His mother had worked as his father's maid for a year, but the Governor could help himself falling in love with her, and they had married right before the decision to go to Jamaica was made. Elizabeth and Will had been shy at first with each other, but when Elizabeth realized that she had a friend now who wouldn't insist on playing tea party or cotillion, and Will realized that he was now someone's hero (a new feeling for a poor boy from Manchester), they got along splendidly and seldom were they parted.
Well, sometimes they got along splendidly. Other times, they were at each other's throats, since one of their favorite games to play was pirates, and also because two such strong wills are bound to almost never agree with one another.
Which was the case in this situation, and as most of the crew members chose to ignore the monotonous shouts of 'I scared you!' and 'Did not!', Mr. Gibbs, the master gunner, did not.
He sent both children into another screaming fit as he grabbed both by the scruff of their necks, paying no mind to the fine broadcloth of Elizabeth's dress, and scolded the both of them. "Quiet, ye hear! These are strange and silent waters, mired with fog! They say cursed pirates sail these waters. Ye don't want to be bringing them down upon us, do ye now?" He turned his full attention on Elizabeth. "And don't think I didn't hear ye singing yer pirate song 'afore. Bad luck to be singin' 'bout pirates round this way."
"Mr. Gibbs, that will be enough," all three turned to see Lt. Norrington address his crewman rather firmly. Close behind him were Governor Swann, and his new wife, Lydia Turner-Swann. The new Mrs. Swann, though considerably younger than her husband, and beautiful like her boy, always had a sadness in her eyes, that was present even on her wedding day. But she was a kind and soft-spoken woman, and having lived most of her life as a peasant and working girl, appreciated all that her new life had to offer and especially what it offered to her son. Elizabeth adored her.
Mr. Gibbs sighed. "Aye, lieutenant," head down, he crossed both parties muttering to himself about, "Bad luck to have women on board too, even if one is miniature. Why, I tell ye…"
Elizabeth tugged on the coatsleeve of the lieutenant. "He said there were pirates in this sea. Do you think he could be right?"
The Governor began to scold her for her unladylike behavior, but Lt. Norrington gave a quick and not altogether kind smile down to the child's innocent face. He was a quick and not altogether kind man, but rather ambitious and a good seaman. The Governor himself had picked him to oversee his family's voyage across the Atlantic. "I suppose he could be, Miss Swann."
"I should like to meet a pirate," the comment was meant to be under her breath, but Elizabeth felt her cheeks go red as her father and the lieutenant chuckled at her childlike wonder.
"Don't be too eager to meet a pirate, Miss Swann," Lt. Norrington stared out to sea, and Elizabeth wasn't sure if he was even addressing her still. "A violent lot they are. In our new colony of Port Royal, I intend to see that all thieves, murderers, and yes, Miss Swann, all pirates get exactly what they deserve: a short drop and a sudden stop."
Elizabeth gasped at the imagery it created, though not exactly scared, but Governor Swann immediately stepped in. "Lt. Norrington, I fear what kind of effect this talk will have upon my daughter."
"My apologies, Sir. Miss Swann, Mrs. Swann." And Norrington went back about his business in a clearly unapologetic way.
"Elizabeth, you really must stop this foolishness with piracy. It really is a crime, you know, and a violent one at that. Wouldn't you like to go into your cabin with Lydia and practice your embroidery until it's time for tea?" His words were meant to be kind, but when Elizabeth received such suggestions from her father, she felt as though he'd used his riding crop on her. Practicing embroidery made her want to scream.
Lydia laid a kind hand on Elizabeth's shoulders, and while the Governor wasn't looking, Will stuck his tongue out at her, making his step-sister laugh. Elizabeth had just gotten below deck, when Elizabeth was pitched off her feet. Sitting up and rubbing the bump on her head, she looked up at Lydia. "What's happened?" And then the unmistakable sound of canons erupted, and the woman and little girl looked at each other in fear.
"Elizabeth, get to our cabin, and stay there!" And Lydia was in a flash up the stairs again, only she seemed to have forgotten that her step-daughter rarely obeyed anyone, especially if anything exciting going on. And to Elizabeth, at that stage in her life, if she heard canons and guns firing, there was excitement to be found.
Creeping up on deck a minute after Lydia, Elizabeth began to wander, and was scared instantly. She was without her father, without Lydia, and without Will. And there were men being shot, men shooting, and Elizabeth saw her first taste of death as Tom Porter, a young sailor only a few years older than Will, fell, with a shot to his chest and coughing up awful spurts of blood.
Elizabeth was doing her best to not curl up on the deck and burst into tears when she saw Lydia and ran up to her, grabbing her hand and squeezing for support. Lydia looked down at Elizabeth, her eyes wild, with both a courage and a fear Elizabeth had never seen the likes of before and wouldn't again for a very long time. "Elizabeth, I told you to go down below!"
"I want to stay with you!" Elizabeth trailed after Lydia, having the misfortune of being a little girl who had always gotten what she wanted, and was petted and spoiled, and was being jerked awake to the harshness of reality.
"I have to find Will!" And as Lydia took one more fateful step, she stepped in front of Elizabeth, and fell. Elizabeth had heard the telltale pop, and the red staining the wood on Lydia's left side. Elizabeth finally did crumple to the floor in tears, cradling the head of the only mother she had ever known. She screamed as Lydia coughed up the bubbles of blood Elizabeth had seen only seconds earlier from young Tom Porter.
"Lydia! No!" But Lydia was shaking, and was no longer hearing Elizabeth. Then, with one final bout of strength, reached below the collar of her dress and ripped off the chain she wore around her neck, pressing it and the medallion it held into Elizabeth's palm. "Keep this, Elizabeth," Lydia managed to get out in her weak, dying voice. "Don't ever let anyone know you have it. Even Will. Especially Will. He can never know…" and then Lydia Turner-Swann was gone, as the battle came to a close, with His Majesty's Navy taking the victory. Elizabeth wept, as she kissed Lydia's palm, and closed her eyes.
"Mother!" Will was all of a sudden at her side, gathering his mother's lifeless body into his arms, and then the Governor was there too, kneeling beside Lydia and whispering softly, over and over, "My darling, no. My darling, no."
Elizabeth got up and moved to the side of the ship, the fog surrounding them thicker with gunsmoke. She remembered the medallion clasped tightly in her hand, and looked down at it, eyes widening at what she saw. It was a gold disc, larger and thicker than a schilling, but as Elizabeth turned it over, she saw that ensigned on the back of it, were a skull and crossbow. The symbol of the Jolly Roger. "Pirates!" she gasped.
She looked back at her family, still weeping over Lydia's lifeless form and then back over the side of the ship. She thought she saw something through the fog and mist, and squinted her eyes. She tucked the medallion into the bodice of her dress, continuing to watch the shape on the horizon. And then it came clearer into view, at first the dark wood, and then the sails, and then, at the very top, the flag with the same ensignia as on the coin. And Elizabeth fainted dead away…
* * *
1720, Port Royal
And Elizabeth woke up with a start from her dream. As she gasped for breath, she impatiently brushed away the tears that involuntarily brimmed in her eyes whenever she thought of the day Lydia died. Her father had never been the same since. No one had been the same since.
Getting out of bed, she held the candle close to her desk, removing items to get to the secret shelf that held the medallion Lydia gave her and told to keep away from anyone's sight. Which she had, all these years. Not hard to do, considering she hadn't even thought about it herself in months. But now she drew it out of the desk, noting the dustfree spot where it had lain for years.
The gold had dulled since the medallion came into Elizabeth's possession all those years ago. She drew the chain over her neck and admired herself in the mirror.
The day Lydia died, Elizabeth had given up all romantic notions about pirates, having seen first hand the evil they could do.
But in her subconscious, Elizabeth would awaken from dreams lately of pirates. Being kidnapped by pirates, and in turn, being rescued by pirates. Being stranded on deserted islands with pirates and doing things with pirates that were so intimate that Elizabeth would find herself blushing when she awoke from such dreams.
To clarify, Elizabeth wasn't dreaming of pirates per say…but rather one pirate, whose face was slightly blurred, though he was swarthy and handsome, with a gravelly voice, and hands like velvet when he touched her.
Elizabeth jumped a mile when she heard her father coming up the stairs and his voice calling to her, "Elizabeth, are you decent?"
She knocked her end table over in an effort to get to her robe. There was no time to stash the medallion back in its hiding spot and had just gotten it hidden beneath her chemise when the door opened, and entered her father and three of her maids. "Ah, still a-bed at this hour!" Governor Swann clucked his tongue good-naturedly and motioned for one of the maids to open the drapes, revealing the gorgeous Caribbean summer day, and letting in the scent of the blossoms that had been Elizabeth's comfort since they moved to Port Royal. Governor Swann turned his attentions to his beloved, yet strong-minded daughter. "I have a gift for you."
Elizabeth's chambermaid held out the box that was just the right size for a new gown, as Governor Swann opened it. Elizabeth reached out and fingered the light muslin, with the delicately embroidered design. It was beautiful, like a princess' costume. But Elizabeth was not a princess. Still, she pasted a smile on her face, since she did not want to hurt her father's feelings. "It's beautiful Father, thank you."
He patted her porcelain cheek. "Happy birthday, my dear."
Ah. Elizabeth had forgotten her own birthday. Her eighteenth birthday.
"Go, try it on," her father pushed her in the direction of the screen that served as her dressing room, followed by two of her maids, as one prepared to lace up her corset. "How does it look?"
Elizabeth managed to gasp out, "It's too soon to tell!" as Alice and Francine pulled harder on the laces of her stay.
"I'm sorry, miss, but this gown requires a seventeen-inch waist," Alice said quietly in her rolling Cockney accent.
Seventeen-inch waist!
"I'm told that this is the latest fashion from London," the Governor's voice floated over to Elizabeth.
Women in London must have learned how to not breathe. Elizabeth thought to herself, as Alice and Francine finished and finally slipped the gown over her head. It was a pale pink shade which went well with her big brown, doe-like eyes and soft white skin. Elizabeth once again pasted her china-doll like smile on and stepped out to face her father.
"Ah, stunning," the Governor kissed her forehead, and then paused, as if not sure how to proceed. "I…I had hoped that you would wear this to the Commodore's ceremony."
This time, Elizabeth didn't bother to hide the roll in her eyes. Captain-soon-to-be-Commodore Norrington had been calling on Sundays for the past two years, and asking Elizabeth to cotillions and for walks and drives, and behaving so properly that it was almost maddening. Elizabeth wished there were a proper way to tell someone to leave you alone, but her father seemed intent on presenting the two with opportunities to be alone together. It was obvious that Norrington was getting himself in the frame of mind to ask the Governor for his daughter's hand in marriage and the Governor was getting himself in the frame of mind to accept. Elizabeth, however, seemed to be in no frame of mind, whatsoever.