A/N: With best wishes to all the Norrington-bastardizing-Johnny-and-Orli-fangirls, who are not able to invent a villain when they need one, and always take Norrington for it. Thanks to Dragonlady for the Beta and the disclaimer.
Song: "When it comes to you" by Dire Straits.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Pirates of the Caribbean," Disney does. "When it comes to you" is owned by Dire Straits. I am not making monetary profit from this fiction.
When It Comes To You
If we can't get along we oughtta be apart
And I'm wondering where'd you get that cold, cold heart
Set me free - sign my release
I'm tired of being the villain of the piece
He could hear them whispering. Day after day, night after night, and it was always the same. And slowly he grew tired of this.
It was almost a normal day in Port Royal. Almost. He had spent the previous night fighting skeleton pirates - as he always had for several weeks. And now, once again, he was to hang 'Captain' Jack Sparrow, because the Law told him to. His own personal objections were nonwithstanding.
Jack Sparrow was not an evil man. Nor cruel. Nor a butcher. William Turner was right: Jack Sparrow was a good man. His only fault lay that he was a pirate, and that was against the law. And he, Commodore James Norrington, stood for the law in Port Royal. It wasn't easy, especially after recent events.
You been givin' me a bad time
Tell me what'd I do
How come I always get a hard time
Honey when it comes to you
Sayin' things that you didn't have to
How come I always get a hard time
Honey when it comes to you
While the judge's aid was reading the bill of indictment and the drums were beating, Norrington could still hear the whispering. Sometimes they don't even bother to whisper, just freely spoke their mind aloud. They slandered him. The "stiff Brit," the "sissy," or sometimes just the "bad guy who wants to kill Jack Sparrow and take the girl from the "cute Will Turner"... the terms of their disdain were endless. And ... Who was "Orli"? Hm...
Did he deserve that?
Will Turner came towards Norrington, Govenor Swann and Elizabeth. Norrington liked Will; he was an excellent blacksmith and a brave young man, though clearly too much attracted by piracy. Still...
Norrington knew that there was something wrong when Will told Elizabeth, that he loved her. As he had for weeks, he knew that he had to do something. And he did. Still the whispering went on.
He could never convince them, could he?
You only get one life - this I know
I wanna get my licks in now before I go
Of course Norrington thwarted the ridiculous but up to a certain point quite effective escape attempt - and the slandering grew louder.
Will told him again that Jack was a good man and Norrington agreed silently. Then Elizabeth walked over to Will's side, telling Norrington, that she belonged there.
Well, a little shocking but not really surprising. This was how the story went, day after day, night after night. And he was always the antagonist. Wasn't he?
He never did anyone harm.
He always followed the law.
He was about to give Elizabeth to William Turner even though she had promised to marry him, with no intention to punish the young blacksmith for trying to free Jack Sparrow a second time.
And he was just about to give exactly this bloody pirate a head-start, so he was not to be hanged...
And he was the bad guy? Day after day, night after night?
There must have been more to life. It wasn't supposed to repeat itself like this. Norrington dropped his sword and looked at Elizabeth.
The fire of love is dead and cold
I gotta satisfy the hunger in my soul
There was nothing keeping him here anymore. They all would do fine - even without him. So he left. He has always been an officer of the Royal Navy and always would be, but...why in Port Royal? There were so many possibilities he could persue. Maybe Gillette would want to accompany him...
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The audience in the big Multiplex blinked. Once. Twice. But Commander James Norrington had left the screen. Definately. And the camera didn't follow. It was still set on all the others, who were looking pretty confused. They looked as confused as the audience felt.
"This...," began Elizabeth, but couldn't go on. It was just unbelievable.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," Will helped. "Right?"
Jack shook his head. "Definately not, no. But..." He shrugged. "Well, it's understandable. With all them smearing him out there." He gestured in the direction of the audience, which was still shocked and silent. "Sometimes it was really deafening."
On screen everybody nodded.
"All right. Any suggestions?" asked Will. "What do we do now?"
Jack shrugged.
""Knock off. Seems that there's nothing else to do. Does anyone care for a drink?"
So they walked off-screen, too, somewhere out of sight, where no camera could follow.
And you been givin' me a bad time
Tell me what'd I do
How come I always get a hard time
Honey when it comes to you
Sayin' things that you didn't have to
How come I always get a hard time
Honey when it comes to you
The End
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A/N: Feedback (no matter pro or con) is always appreciated. I.
