This takes place after The Curse of the Black Pearl. I love Norrington/OC fics, and this is just a little idea that popped into my head one day. I have some pretty cool ideas for it that I'll work in later. Please review and tell me how you like it. By the way, I am just kind of disregarding Dead Man's Chest, and Norrington's whole fall from power and such. I just wanted to let everyone know so that there was no confusion. 

Chapter One: An Unexpected Appearance

Flash back:

"Take that!" exclaimed the nine year old boy in his treble voice, not yet deepened to the sound of manhood. He jabbed his 'sword' at the little girl's middle.

"No you don't, James," she laughed as she dodged the stick. She was three years younger than the boy at six years. Her waist length auburn hair was miserably tangled. She didn't even think about how angry her mother would be when she saw her.

"You won't survive me long, Lorraine," James called as he chased after her, "For you are a pirate, and I'm a navy man. I'll get you yet!"

And so the two children played. James and Lorraine swung their makeshift swords at one another, vainly trying to make a 'killing blow.' James was pretending to be the captain of a famous English ship, the fastest in the world he told Lorraine, and she was a pirate captain.

Finally James's stick sword made contact with Lorraine's chest. "Ha!" he exclaimed in triumph, "I killed you."

Lorraine fell to the ground with a croak then lay silent. James stared down at her for a moment. "Lorraine?" he asked finally. She didn't answer nor did she move. "Lorraine? Lorraine?!" His voice had become more alarmed. He kneeled down beside where she lay. As he was about to reach out and shake her, she rammed her stick up into his stomach.

"I wasn't dead, you dolt!" she giggled as he fell back, "But now you are. You should always make sure a pirate is really dead before you get too close."

"What do you know about fighting?" James sneered at her as he rubbed his sore stomach, "You're just a silly girl!"

"I'm a lot less silly than you," she taunted. She stuck her tongue out at him. He returned the mocking gesture, and she threw herself at him. A moment later they were rolling on the ground wrestling and laughing, their brief anger forgotten in their present merriment.

Sometime later, they lay side-by-side on the soft grass, looking up at the clear blue sky. James sighed contentedly and said, "One day I'm gonna be a high ranking navy officer."

"Oh yeah?" Lorraine challenged.

For once, James ignored her mocking tone. "Yeah. I'll sail the seas with the other sailors. Our ships will be so fast that no pirates will ever be able to outrun us, and we'll be so brave and strong that when we fight them they'll shake in their boots. I'll be a legend."

Lorraine looked at him with awe, wondering if all that could really happen.

He looked back to her eyes and added. "And you'll be my wife."

The spell he had put over her by talking of glory and killing pirates vanished as she rolled away from him laughing. "Why would I want to marry you?" she asked, still giggling loudly.

James scowled at her. "Because I'll be a hero!" he shouted defensively.

Lorraine wrinkled her nose in disgust. "But you're just a gross boy. And besides I'm not going to get married. I don't want to."

James stood up and crossed his arms. "Fine, then I don't want to marry you anymore," he said stubbornly.

"Good!" Lorraine said. A mischievous glint appeared in her big violet-blue eyes. "A bet you can't catch me!" She made a move as if to start running.

James shook his head and began to walk in the other direction. "I'm tired of playing your little girl games, Lorraine," he told her cruelly, "Why don't you go find a doll to play with or something?" He turned and walked away before he could see the tears of hurt in her eyes.

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Two years later:

James walked into the parlor. "You wanted to see me, Mother," he asked. To his embarrassment his voice cracked on the last syllable. He would be immensely please when it stopped doing that and he had a deep man's voice like his father.

"Yes, James," his mother said, unaware of his embarrassment, "Little Lorraine Hawthorne and her family are leaving for England in a week's time. Her father has been called away on business."

"Leaving?" James asked, "They are not coming back soon?"

"No," his mother replied solemnly, "I don't suppose they will be back anytime soon. I know how found you are of the girl so I thought I should tell you so that you may say good-bye. You may go now."

James gave his mother a small bow before walking out. He was shocked to say the least. Lorraine had been one of his closest playmates for years. She had not told him of this.

The next day Lorraine and her family dined with the Norringtons. After dinner James and Lorraine stood alone on the balcony. "I am going to miss you, James," Lorraine said after a long period of silence. Her eyes, now more violet colored than blue, appeared strangely mature right then despite her only having eight years.

"I will miss you too, Lorraine," his voice cracked and for once she didn't laugh. Caught up in the moment, James leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. He didn't know why he did it. He just knew he wanted to. It was a brief kiss. Just a light feather touch of lips and then it was over. Lorraine stared at him with wide eyes. Then they heard the voice of her mother, summoning her to go. Without a word, she turned and fled.

That had been the last time that James ever saw Lorraine.

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(End flashback)

Commodore James Norrington put on his powdered white wig, the final touch to his uniform, and with a sigh prepared to leave. He did not want to go to the banquet that Governor Swann was holding in honor of his daughter and her new fiancé, William Turner. It would be too painful.

Truth be told, he wasn't all that heartbroken about it anymore. Elizabeth was a good woman, and she deserved to be happy. Turner seemed to make her happy. Both members of the young couple had earned his grudging respect despite all that had happened in the past months.

What would be painful was his wounded pride.

He didn't want to have to go to the banquet alone and watch the happy young couple laughing and dancing, the whole time thinking about how he had been scorned and rejected. Elizabeth had done more than hurt his heart. She had destroyed his vanity. Before his humiliating rejection at her hands, he had thought himself half-way desirable to the fairer sex. Now it seemed as though he was repulsive, and no decent woman would ever consent to spend the rest of her life at his side.

Also, he never had liked parties.

He sighed again as he reached the door. He had no choice. His absence would set tongues to wagging. It had become apparent that the women- and quite frequently the men!- in Port Royal loved to gossip. He would be the laughing stock of the whole town. That wouldn't do at all. No, much better to show up and pretend to be pleased.

When he arrived at the banquet the place was already filled. Some violinists were at the front playing, and a few couples were dancing. He scanned the room for the betrothed pair. Finally his eyes lit on them. They were among the dancing couples, right in the center of them all. They both wore bright smiles that lit up their faces. They appeared to be talking animatedly. William said something, and Elizabeth threw her head back and laughed.

James turned away and began to survey the other people in the room, looking for someone to sit with and not be totally bored. He spotted his second-in-command and friend, Nathaniel Gillette, sitting at a table with Edward and Alexandria Winchester and a woman with long flowing auburn hair. There was an empty seat between Nathaniel and the unknown woman. He figured that it would be as a good a seat as any. He approached them. "Good evening, Lieutenant," he said addressing Nathaniel formally. He turned and bowed to the older couple. "How do you do, Mr. Winchester, Mrs. Winchester?"

"Commodore, old bloke!" exclaimed Edward Winchester. His face was already flushed from too much alcohol intake. Knowing Edward he would become worse before the end of the banquet. "Come, sit, sit."

He took the seat and began to turn to the woman and introduce himself, but before he could open his mouth she spoke first. "James Norrington!" she exclaimed in a lovely melodious voice, "Why, haven't you gone up in the world!"

"I'm sorry," he began, "Do I…." But he cut off as he began to study her. Elegantly arched brows, high prominent cheek bones, full pink mouth, pale ivory skin, her beautiful auburn hair… and those eyes. No one could ever forget eyes that color. Deep violet with shades of blue. "Lorraine?"

She laughed, a lilting sound that was far more enchanting and womanly than he remembered. "So you do remember me! I wondered if you would."

He gaped at her a moment, but before he could say anything else to her, Alexandria Winchester spoke up. "Yes, I ran into Miss Hawthorne this morning at the tailor's, and after we spoke for a few moments I remembered her. She was just a wee little thing when she left us to go away to England."

"Yes, I remember…" he said slowly, still trying to get over the surprise at seeing the childhood friend that he had never expected to meet again. He couldn't help but stare at her. She had grown into a beautiful woman.

Nathaniel leaned up close to his ear. "You don't have to be so obvious in your admiration, mate. You don't want to seem too forward." It was meant to be a whisper, but unfortunately all at the table, including Lorraine, heard him.

Lorraine flushed from her cheeks all the way down to her bosom. His eyes followed the flush and lingered a moment at the expanse of bare flesh that her rather low-cut lilac colored gown revealed. When her family had moved away from Port Royal, she had been but a slight scrawny thing, without so much as a hint of a woman's figure. Now…. Well, now his breathing quickened as he looked at her.

He snapped his eyes back up to her face, and she hurriedly resumed the conversation as if nothing out of the ordinary had been said. "Well, Mrs. Winchester and I spent the whole day together, and she invited me to accompany her and Mr. Winchester to the banquet."

"I am glad you came," he said sincerely and immediately colored. He shouldn't be so forward. They hadn't seen each other in years. "It is good to see you again, Miss Hawthorne," he said, regaining his composure, "What brings you back to Port Royal?"

Lorraine paled visibly. She cleared her throat. "Well… You see… Mother passed away years ago. She died of consumption two years after we settled in England. And just recently… Father passed on also. With my inheritance, I have decided to have a house built here in Port Royal to live in." She swallowed and looked down. James could tell that she was upset. She had been close to her father.

"I am so very sorry, Miss Hawthorne," he said with restrained compassion, a tone appropriate for the situation. He again called her by her title and last name rather than her given name.

"Thank you…" she hesitated, and he assumed she was trying to decide whether or not she should follow his lead and call him Commodore Norrington. In the end, she just left her words hanging there. An awkward silence fell over the table.

"Miss Hawthorne!" Nathaniel said with a clap of his hands. Lorraine looked to him and inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Do you enjoy dancing?" he continued.

"Why, yes, I do. I would love…" she began, but Nathaniel cut her off.

"Wonderful! Because Commodore Norrington just happens to be a lovely dancer." He turned to a bewildered James. "Go on, James. Show her."

James turned to Lorraine who looked just as surprised as he. "W- would… would you like to dance, Miss Hawthorne?" he asked unsteadily. Suddenly he felt like an adolescent again, an innocent who knew nothing of women.

Lorraine blushed slightly. She opened her mouth twice as if to speak, but after a few tries she just nodded her head vigorously. James's chair almost fell back as he stood. He held his hand out to her. After a moment's hesitation she placed her soft delicate hand in his. His pulse leaped at the warm touch.

As nervous as a boy, he led her out onto the floor.

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Okay end of chapter one! Tell what you guys think please. Reviews are very important to me, and I'd like to get at least one before I update. Makes puppy dog eyes Please! Oh yeah, I had no clue what Gillette's first name was, so I just kind of gave him one. If someone knows what his real name is, please let me know.