A DAY IN PORT ROYAL

Starzangel

Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, none of Pirates of the Caribbean is mine. I only borrowed the concept and characters to have fun (but gain no profit) writing this story, which is mine.

Miss Evelyn Marlowe belongs to me. On a brief stint of ingenuity, I named her after the famous English writers Evelyn Waugh (the name can be used for both genders, you see) and Christopher Marlowe.

Archive: If you're not FanFiction.Net, then please ask first via submitting a review (leave your email address & I'll get back to you – and most probably say "Aye!").

Author's Note: ATTENTION! ATTENTION! Before you read the start and get the wrong impression of this story, let me tell you now that this is NOT, I repeat NOT a Mary Sue or Jack/OC fic. Just bear with me and all will become clear, I promise.

Pirates of the Caribbean:

A Day In Port Royal

by

Starzangel

Dawn

- Approaching Port Royal

The girl's long fair hair was still slightly darkened by seawater, her complexion was a little too pale and her ears were missing one dangling gold and diamond earring, but otherwise she seemed none the worse for her watery adventure. She'd certainly made herself at home. Her sopping dresses were dripping from the back of the chair making a sizeable puddle on the cabin's deck and she sat in the bed, a hand holding the sheets pulled up to her chest revealing only her bare shoulders.

"Y'know, some would say this is rather clichéd, love." A lopsided, gold-capped grin accompanied the amused words.

His gaze had finally come to rest on her striking green-blue eyes and she met his stare evenly.

"You flatter yourself, Captain Sparrow," she reproached, pulling the sheets up to her neck. Then her expression softened slightly as her manners caught up with her. "But thank you for rescuing me."

"My pleasure, Miss Marlowe," the pirate captain replied. "Though probably contrary to popular belief, it's not every day I get to save the life of a beautiful young woman."

Evelyn Marlowe forced a smile, as if to humour him.

A quiet grin briefly rose to Jack's lips, while his dark-brown eyes told that nothing got past him. He pushed away from the shut door he leant against and moved to the starboard window.

"Port Royal is on the horizon," he said, gesturing towards the view. "We'll be there in about an hour, and I'll row you to shore as promised."

"Thank you." Evelyn's manner changed with his and she slid her legs over the side of the bed, still keeping everything carefully covered. "I'm very grateful for what you're doing, Captain. I can barely believe my luck really, when I think about what might have happened if no-one had come along in time or if you weren't so…respectable," she smiled, "as pirates go, that is."

Jack smiled back, inclining his head in a slight nod. His carefree demeanour slowly seeped back into his motions, as he then left the window and walked towards the door.

"I'll get Anamaria to bring you up some dry clothes from the hold," he said, indicating her waterlogged attire on his way past, and swayed out of his cabin.

8:00am

- Visiting the Blacksmith(s)

Most would have said he was a fool. Many, unaware that his relationship with his first mate was gradually becoming more intimate, would have told him there were 'damsels' that were easier to 'rescue' and impress in the nearest brothel. Some would have wondered what the problem was since they didn't have a clue who he was anyway. And the minority, the select few with fully functional, rational, calculating minds, would have agreed with him that, though perhaps not the most sensible idea of the week, it wasn't a big deal.

It had been a year since Captain Jack Sparrow had gone for his luckily too short a drop and sudden stop on the gallows, after all. Not to mention the fact that Port Royal wasn't actually as civilised and respectable as the Governor and the local Navy liked people to think.

Nevertheless, to keep the tone of the occasion down, everyone but Jack, Anamaria and Miss Evelyn Marlowe stayed aboard the Black Pearl.

The aforementioned pirate ship was hidden, which meant a long row to shore. However, between them the two pirates soon had the row-boat quietly brushing up on the sand of the town's beach. The three of them then calmly clambered out of the boat, skirted the docks and drifted into the streets.

Without too much trouble, Jack found the shop where he had first met young William Turner. The building was still standing and nothing had changed except the sign hung above the door. It had been painted blue with a picture of two crossed swords above an anvil and hammer, and what before had said "J. Brown" now read "W. Turner".

Captain Jack Sparrow grinned and pushed open the wooden door.

Inside things were much the same as well, only there was no sleeping drunk on the chair in the corner. And there was shock personified into the form of a young blacksmith stood in the centre of the room, a hammer in a precarious position in his slackened grip.

"Jack!"

"Aye."

Captain Jack Sparrow continued to grin as he sauntered along the familiar route from the doorstep onto the tilted cart and down onto the dusty floor. Anamaria and Evelyn followed him with less certainty, choosing to simply drop to the floor from the step.

Meanwhile, Will Turner continued to stare, shifting briefly to take in the woman he knew and the woman he'd never seen before in his life, before returning to Jack. His mouth tried and failed to form a sentence throughout.

"Why are you here?" Will finally managed to get it out in a rush of breathless words.

"Well, I would've given you warning, only I couldn't," Jack told him, with punctuating hand movements. "The parrot's gone on strike and a terrible calamity has befallen the pigeons of his region. Something to do with the winds coming from West Africa…"

Will gave his friend a withering look, feeling as though the pirate had never left.

As if he had what he wanted, Jack Sparrow dropped his act and gestured towards the woman in a fine, blue dress.

"This is Miss Evelyn Marlowe."

Evelyn curtsied, rather uncertainly, and Will smiled politely, bowing his head a little in return.

"A young woman of very high stature and a surprising amount of personality for one."

The girl glared at Jack, unsure whether she was being complimented or insulted.

"Got a bit of fire in her. Probably get on well with your fair Elizabeth. How is she, by the way?"

"Elizabeth? She's fine, thank you," Will replied, just about keeping pace with the pirate. "We're to be married in a few weeks."

"So I heard. Quite the event of the year in these parts."

A hint of colour rose to the cheeks of the young man.

"So, why is Miss Marlowe with you?" Will inquired.

"Ah, well, like your fiancée, Miss Marlowe here likes a bit of adventure. There wasn't any wind yesterday evening, so she used her charms to convince the captain of the ship bringing her and her family from England to Jamaica to let her take a little row-boat out for a paddle. She strayed too far and, low and behold, she was caught by the current and rapidly swept out of sight before anyone noticed.

"Her little boat took quite a battering on some rocks and our sweet maiden would've surely drowned, were it not for a certain infamous pirate ship that just so happened to be around, for reasons we shan't mention…"

The girl looked confused at this addition to the story, Anamaria smirked a little, and Will rolled his eyes, for he correctly guessed that the Black Pearl had been shadowing the English ship to size it up as possible prey.

"Anyway, since taking her to rendezvous with her ship wasn't exactly an option, I agreed to take her the rest of the way to Port Royal." He paused, then spread his arms and declared, "Voila."

Will nodded and his eyes flicked to Anamaria, who had patiently watched Jack's charade with quiet amusement. He was about to belatedly greet her properly, when suddenly the sound of the door opening made them all jump and everyone but Evelyn dived for their weapons.

The grizzly and drunken form of the blacksmith shop's previous owner stumbled in, a half empty bottle of liquor in his hand.

"Mr Brown!" Will called, lowering his sword. "Sorry, he likes to pop in…" he muttered to the others, as he quickly strode to the door.

The old drunk had managed to half fall, half step down from the door, and Will wrapped an arm around his shoulders and attempted to steer him back up and outside. However, the former smithy had other ideas and ducked under Will's arm to stumble further into the room, peering at the boy's guests.

"Hey, boy!" he cried, excitedly. "Tha's 'im! I ne'er forgets a face."

Doubting how much damage the short and barely standing drunk could do, the pirates had lowered their guard as they watched the old man. As such, when he finally did move with surprisingly sharp and accurate speed, Jack unfortunately wasn't able to duck quite quick enough.

Thuwonk-smash!

The bottle hit Captain Jack Sparrow on his left temple, spraying shards of glass and rum everywhere. He slowly straightened and staggered away a couple of steps, before finally falling backwards.

Thanks to Anamaria's quick reflexes, the pirate captain's head didn't receive another bashing from what would have been the floor this time. However, he was a limp weight in her arms and his eyelids were motionlessly shut over his eyes.

Will's concerned look at Jack transformed into an infuriated glare at the old drunk.

"You old fool!" the young blacksmith cried, angrily.

"Wha'?" Mr Brown asked, very confused by the boy's reaction. "'E's tha' pirate, was 'ere b'fore."

Exasperated, Will impulsively raised his sword and knocked the man over the head with the hilt, just hard enough to send the drunk into unconsciousness on a usefully placed mound of straw.

Will turned back to find that Anamaria had lowered her captain the rest of the way to the floor and she and Miss Marlowe were attempting to gently bring him back to the world.

"Jack? Jack! Wake up, you lazy dog!" Anamaria's tone steadily rose. "JACK!"

She slapped the right side of his face. Then again, harder. Then harder still.

Finally, a groan escaped the pirate captain's lips and his eyes slowly opened.

"Good mornin' to you too, love…" he slurred, looking up at Anamaria.

With his first mate's help, Captain Jack Sparrow unsteadily regained his feet. He shook his head both to clear it and get the glass fragments out of his long, thick hair. With his hand he wiped the rum from the side of his face and then pulled off his liquor-dampened coat.

Jack glanced over at the unconscious drunk and grinned just a little.

"Well, at least he remembered me."

10:00am

- The Fair Elizabeth

Although a lowly blacksmith wasn't the husband Governor Weatherby Swann had planned for his daughter, Elizabeth's happiness was what mattered most in the world to him. The girl was stubborn and intelligent, if she believed she'd made the right choice then her father trusted that she had. It was a shame nonetheless, especially since James Norrington, the ideal man for a woman of her station, doted on her so. Yet, if Elizabeth wanted to marry for love, he would not stop her. After all, it had been love behind his own marriage to Sarah Whitfield, Elizabeth's mother who had been cruelly taken from them during childbirth twenty-one years ago. It had only been added fortune that his beloved Sarah did have good standing.

William Turner Jr. wasn't a bad lad. A little rash at times, but that came from being ruled more by his heart than his head. Upon recently discovering who was behind the masterpieces made under the name of J. Brown, he'd been pleased to find that the lad was outstanding at his trade. Elizabeth might have less luxury than she was used to, but she wouldn't go short. Young William loved Elizabeth completely and the more Weatherby Swann saw of him, the more fond of him he became.

As was traditional, the father of the bride was to pay for the wedding and the Governor of Port Royal saw that no expense was to be spared. Also, he had bought the couple a house for a wedding gift. It was a moderately sized house in the better part of town. Nothing too showy, but not a decaying monstrosity either. Now that Turner had bought the blacksmith shop from Mr Brown, the lad would have no problem paying for the house's upkeep. Weatherby Swann had made it clear that it was a present for both of them and the deeds were in Will's name, so the lad's pride and honour wouldn't be dented.

It was at this newly acquired house that Will had arranged to meet Elizabeth that morning. His visitors chose to accompany him and the blacksmith knew his fiancée would like to see Jack again.

The young couple both tried to keep up with the pirate's adventures, shifting through the rumours to find the shreds of truth. Nothing new had been heard of him for many months and they'd been a little concerned that the Black Pearl had hit a reef or storm and sunk unnoticed. However, a few weeks ago, a visiting aunt of a family friend of the Swanns brought tales of a pirate ship with black sails having caused havoc off the southern French coast. It seemed Captain Jack Sparrow had spread his wings and only just returned to his favoured old waters.

"Oh my! Jack Sparrow!"

Elizabeth Swann was the picture of loveliness as usual. Her slender figure was enhanced by a corset and tailored yellow and cream floral-patterned dress edged with lace. Beneath a matching bonnet, her light-brown hair was only half pinned up at the back, leaving the rest to cascade over her shoulders in sun-streaked waves and a thick ringlet hung down on each side of her face. Pearls hung from her ears and lay in a ring around her neck.

"Elizabeth," Jack greeted, flashing his gold-capped teeth. "You look as lovely as ever, darling."

"Thank you, Jack," Elizabeth replied, smiling with him. "How are you?"

"Top of the world, love. Unless you count the bump on me head where Will's bloody tutor hit me with a bottle…again."

Elizabeth winced with empathy.

"You stink of rum," she then complained, wrinkling up her nose.

"I resent your tone," he replied, mock serious. Then explained, "The bottle still had drink in it when it hit my head."

"Ah." Elizabeth turned to the two women. "Anamaria, good to see you."

The female pirate smiled in return.

"And…?" Elizabeth looked to Jack for an introduction.

However, due to the informal company the girl decided to introduce herself.

"My name is Evelyn Marlowe. Captain Sparrow saved my life and has kindly brought me to Port Royal, where my family will be arriving soon."

"Oh, yes. I recall your name. Your father is a highly respected merchant and you're emigrating from England."

Evelyn smiled and nodded. Then, unable to completely shake off her propriety, she curtsied and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Swann."

Elizabeth completed the ceremony, curtsying herself and replying, "Likewise, Miss Marlowe."

"I was hoping you'd put her up until the Golden Dawn arrives," Jack said, "and let it be known she's safe…once we've gone."

"Of course," Elizabeth replied, and turned to Evelyn. "You're welcome to stay with my father and me."

"Thank you." Evelyn smiled with gratitude.

"Come in and see the house," Will said, waving everyone up the front garden's path to the white, two-storey building.

Jack, Anamaria and Evelyn were given the grand tour of the attractively furnished four-bedroom house, which was ready for the young couple to move into after they were wed.

"So, how was Europe?" Will asked the pirates, once they had all settled on the back porch with the lemonade Elizabeth had found in the scantily stocked kitchen.

"The stories have reached this far then?" Jack said, his charcoal-rimmed eyes flashing with interest.

"Yes, we've heard the stories," Elizabeth responded. "But they don't always contain any truth."

Jack averted his dark eyes, refusing to meet her gaze, knowing exactly what she was getting at despite her easy tone. His fingers played with the right cuff of his shirt.

"We saw the sights, picked up some nice gems and spices, and spread my name," the pirate captain told them, brightly. He finally looked Elizabeth in the eye. "Few adventures along the way, but nothing we couldn't handle."

Elizabeth nodded slowly and dropped eye contact.

"All set for your wedding?" Anamaria changed the subject, sensing the undercurrents of tension.

"Yes," Elizabeth replied, squeezing the hand of her fiancé sat close beside her. "We would invite you both, but…" She trailed off and they all exchanged a grin.

"Miss Evelyn, you're welcome to attend though," Will offered.

The girl was about to accept when the unmistakable sound of cannon fire caused her to freeze.

To be continued…

AN 2: So what do you think of it so far? I've strayed from my usual style/format/genre (it's a bit too cheerful for my taste really! Strange thing to say about my own fic, but ah well. :) ), as I like to give my writing skills a good push every so often. How am I doing?

I previously haven't written much about Elizabeth and Will (never before realised how damn annoying it is to have the grammar checker on while writing about someone called Will! I now know what other authors meant when they complained!), I'm juggling a lot of characters and reunions are pretty tricky things to get right. Part of me thinks that it would be better to have the friends reunited in the heat of an action scene with no time to say anything but "What the hell are you doing here?" and "Glad you dropped in!", but that wouldn't fit with this story. Perhaps I'll use that other idea in another fic if I get inspired to write a big action/adventure.

Anyway, let me know what you think of this fic. Thanks!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!