A year or so had passed since the day that Synnove was taken from him, but to be honest, James no longer had any idea whatsoever about the passage of time. Every morning James would drag himself out of bed, stumbling his way through piles of empty bottles littered across the floor and made his way down to the docks. Keys followed him and stayed at his side throughout the day, keeping a watchful eye on his master, protecting him as Synnove would have wanted. All day long he would work under the blistering sun to earn his keep and force his mind to do something other than reminisce. As soon as he held the coins in his hand they were gone, spent on more bottles of alcohol, in the hopes that it would calm his aching heart and silence his racing thoughts. The only thing the run actually did was dull his thoughts; the pain remained no matter what he did. James spent most of his waking hours either hung over or so inebriated that he could barely move. On the rare moments that James was sober his words were cruel and vicious, even to those who brought only kindness to his door. In those same moments he could not escape the clarity of his thoughts or his memories. Every time he closed his eyes, Synnove was there. She would turn around, her bright blue swirling eyes meeting his, and all she had to do was smile at him. Just one simple smile could make James so happy, but then he would open his eyes and Synnove would disappear. His waking hours destroyed him for only in sleep could he see her, speak with her and feel as if she were still alive and standing next to him. As soon as he opened his eyes the pain would return much stronger than before. Sometimes he heard the whisper of her voice on the winds of the night. Every night when he laid his head down upon his pillow, she was laying next to him, never saying a word, just laying there and smiling. She would inch closer, ever so slowly and wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head on his chest. His arms would wind their way around her small body and pull her close, clinging to her while he knew that he could. But as soon as the sun rose, Synnove would turn to dust in his arms and he would awaken feeling cold and all the more empty. James had spent enough time in this cycle to realise that the Synnove he held onto each night was nothing more than a dream. The light fingers which would run through his hair were nothing but a lie. As long as he clung to that knowledge he could tell reality from his dreams. But as time passed, he wished to slip into his dreams forever. Being awake brought nothing but pain, being inebriated brought him closer to sleep and thus to the bottle he turned. His drunkenness lead him to bitterness, to the point where few could stand to be around him, but he no longer cared. With Synnove no longer alive all James wanted was to be left to his dreams. He frequently started fights with large groups of drunken sailors, partly to release the anger he kept in his chest and partly in a wish to finally be freed from the desolation called his life. Yet no one ever drew a pistol to kill him. James would never be that fortuitous. He quickly found that the only reason he woke up each morning was so that he could get back to sleep, and back to Synnove.
Theodore Groves had fallen deeply in love with the shy Yulia Osmosechu. He had taken Yulia and Antanasia along with Antanasia's newborn son Victor back to England with him. Groves planned to marry Yulia on the journey home and claim that Victor was their son in order to spare Antanasia a ruined life. James had tried to appear happy for them, but he was too overcome by bitterness. The children he had dreamt of having with Synnove would never be anything more than a beautiful lie. James was glad when the four had left for they no longer served to remind him of what he wanted so badly to forget. They had sent word from England stating that Groves had been successful in re-entering the Royal Navy and Yulia was now his wife and pregnant with a child of her own. Their peers had accepted the infant Victor as being Yulia and Theodore's with no accusatory questions asked. James had tried his best to smile at the words of Groves' letter, but he found it impossible, Philip Gillette however thought that it was a wonderful piece of news.
After Synnove's death they had all been deposited back on Tortuga by Sparrow and his crew. James and Gillette had quickly fallen back into their old routines, made easier after Groves left with his new family in toe. They had taken up residence in Malvina's Inn, Gillette claiming his old room and James in Synnove's. He would do anything to get close to something that was once hers but now lay abandoned much like himself. Malvina had shed many tears, wailing terribly when Gillette had told her what happened to Synnove. Each time she saw Norrington limp through the door after another unnecessary fight more tears fought their way to the surface. Gillette had left no details out and although it had taken a while for the older woman to comprehend the situation, she understood best the pain that James was feeling. Losing your lover, the other half of you, was the most painful experience that one could ever go through. She admired Synnove's bravery and strength, sacrificing herself for Norrington was the ultimate show of her love. It was the most amazing display of love to go with a most amazing young woman. Malvina did not pity Norrington, she knew that was the last thing that he would ever want. She treated him in the same manner as before, but she found herself thinking of him as more of a second son than simply a man who lodged at her Inn. Her family was broken, perhaps beyond repair, but that did not mean that she would ever turn her back on them. Norrington could stay with her, safe in the Inn for as long as he wanted, for Synnove's memory, her door would always be open.
James never noticed when he was dreaming of Synnove that her necklace emitted a low blue light as it lay on the pillow next in his hand. He never had any idea that Synnove truly was with him each night, if only in the sole form she was capable of coming to him. She wanted desperately to tell him every night how much she loved him, but when she would try to speak, but her voice was mute. She wanted to clean him up and take him far away from Tortuga, take him somewhere where he could thrive and be the man she knew that he was. He deserved so much better than the hand that life had dealt him. She knew that she was mostly to blame for his current suffering, perhaps if she had never admitted her love to him then her death would not have been as painful. Despite this, Synnove could never bring herself to regret her actions, only the pain that they caused. The memories of her, were keeping him in place. She was torturing the man she loved but she could not stay away. All Synnove could do was wrap herself in James' arms and hold onto him until the sun rose and she could hold him no longer.
And so was the life of James Norrington on that one fateful night when he was given an opportunity he never thought to be possible.
I'm sorry it took me a while to get the prologue out! Considering the fact that I leave for Sweden in 16 days, I don't know when the next chapter will be up... I'm terrified!
