"Over a bit to the left. No, no, my left. Yes, that would be your right," Elizabeth said as she tried to direct the placement of a very large wooden sign that read "Happy Birthday." It was her sixteenth birthday, and her father had insisted on Elizabeth having a party of such a scale that would be suitable of a girl her age in London. Her father had always insisted on Elizabeth being like most other girls her age and station, even though she only knew the few whom she had met in her few visits to England's capital. Her previous birthdays had consisted of a slice of something sweet and a few presents from her father and other close family friends. After her father had conceded that all of the formalities were over, she had always been allowed out to play with me. Every year that we had known each other, this was how Elizabeth's birthday was celebrated. I took her to a cave to collect strange looking seashells and look at the minnows, or we would go to a secluded section of the beach and let the rushing blue water pass between our toes. Each year I also gave her a gift, something that I had made in the forge. A bracelet or a pair of earrings that was made from so little metal that no one would ever know that the metal had been taken, but this year was different. She had promised that we could go around the back after the party was over and delude the navy soldiers into thinking that there was a mouse at their feet; this usually cause a lot of very girly squealing and a lot of laughs for us, but I still wasn't sure. I feared for the day when she and I could no longer go on our little escapades. I thought perhaps that the day was coming soon, what with Norrington's unbridled flirtatious behavior. Elizabeth pretended not to notice, but I did.

I was not invited of course, although that didn't mean I wasn't coming.

"Perhaps you are thirsty, Miss Swann?"

She turned around, and her eyes widened when she saw me. "Will, how did you get in?"

I smiled slightly. "Apparently they were looking for waiters for hire, although extra pay pales in comparison to spending time with you, Miss Swann."

"Since when did you start calling me Miss Swann?"

"Since your father is staring right at us," I said through a smile. "As you wish, Miss Swann. Your water will be here momentarily," I said louder than anyone would normally talk and turned back toward the kitchens.

As soon as I got back to the kitchens, I hid behind the wall and looked back toward Elizabeth and her father. Her father was speaking with her in an animated fashion about a matter of seeming importance. Really it could have been any number of things, although I was almost positive that it was about me. She couldn't be seen with me now that she was a proper young lady; a blacksmith was not proper company for a girl her age. He might have been right, but I certainly didn't agree with him.

"Turner! We need you in the back!"

I dragged my eyes from my best friend and my first love and dragged myself back to the infernal job that brought me here.

Blast that detestable Norrington! He was one of the only soldiers in the room who hadn't had a drop of liquor (or at least didn't show it) and he had had an innumerable number of dances with Elizabeth! He was the most eligible bachelor in the room, and he was behaving himself in front of Elizabeth, of all of the women! If I could say anything besides, "May I offer you a drink?" or, "May I take you glass?" I certainly would.

As the night drew to a close, I saw Norrington lead Elizabeth out onto the balcony. If I had anything to do with it, he wouldn't get very far.

I set my tray down in the kitchens and flew up the service stairs in the back. I arrived at the balcony above where Elizabeth and that hell-bound man were standing, and I could clearly make out their conversation.

"Elizabeth, I feel as if this entire night has been a dream."

"Yes, I can not believe that I am sixteen already. These years have passed so quickly."

Yes! Completely distract him from what he was trying to talk about!

"That's not exactly what I meant."

"Well, I—"

"Elizabeth," he said softly, moving toward her.

If I was going to do something, it needed to be now. I spotted a fist-sized rock near a potted plant to my left. With a smile, I grabbed and again looked over the edge to take aim.

Norrington went rather crossed-eyed. "Must've... been a tree," he said in a drunken manner before he fell over backward. Elizabeth immediately looked up, but I was already out of sight. She signaled for a waiter.

"May I have a glass of champagne, please?"

"Certainly, Miss Swann."

The waiter came back a few moments later with what Elizabeth had requested, but before he left Elizabeth slipped a gold coin into his hand. "You never saw me on the balcony, but you did see Norrington wander out here in a drunken stupor. The waiter looked at the shiny coin in his hand, probably worth three months of his normal pay, and eagerly nodded his consent.

After the waiter had left, Elizabeth dumped the glass of champagne all over Norrington's chest. I couldn't help but laugh, and again Elizabeth looked up after I had managed to duck behind the railing. She continued to put the champagne glass into Norrington's fingers. After looking from left to right, she proceeded back into the main ballroom, as did I.

By the time Elizabeth and I had arrived back in the ballroom, the party was already breaking up. Soldiers were wandering in wavering lines toward the door, the more handsome ones with women in tow. Even the Governor was singing in a loud a raucous manner about a wench off the coast of Florida with a few other older men. I caught Elizabeth's eye and gestured toward the door. She smiled and started to make her way across the dance floor toward said door.

A few minutes later we were on the beach, laughing and chasing each other across the beach. When we finally stopped running because of a lack of breath, Elizabeth said, "I think Norrington was going to propose to me tonight," she said with a smile. My own smile dropped for a fraction of a second, but then she said, "As if! I don't think I could suffer through something as horrible as a marriage to that man." We both laughed, and then she asked, "Were you the one who threw that rock at him?"

"Possibly," I said, struggling not to laugh more than acceptable.

"Will! You could have killed him!" she exclaimed with more laughter in her voice than genuine concern.

"I just couldn't bear to let you suffer through something as horrible as a marriage to that man," I said, trying to imitate her as best as I could. We both laughed at that, and when we stopped, there was a slow tune drifting down from the town. I offered my hand and said, "May I have this dance?"

She placed her hand in mine and responded, "Certainly."

The moon was full, and it cast a beautiful glow over the water as it lapped at out bare feet (we had discarded our shoes on the way). After what seemed like a few minutes of dancing, I said, "You know, there was more to me throwing that rock at Norrington's head."

"Mmm?" she said; her head against my chest.

I took a breath to steady myself. "Mainly it's because I would rather see you suffer through something as horrible as a marriage to someone else besides him."

She pulled back and looked me in the eyes. "And who might that be?" she whispered, and that was when I kissed her.

I was expecting a plethora or reactions after I broke off the kiss, most of them being her slapping me or accusing me of consuming too much alcohol or saying that she just wanted to be friends. What completely took me off my guard was the fact that after I broke off the kiss, she leaned up to kiss me again, although she broke this one off.

"I..." She seemed to be struggling for words. She then did what I did expect; she ran. I will have to say that I have never seen anyone run faster in a three foot wide skirt than Elizabeth did that night. I smiled, but I still didn't know what to think. That's what I loved about her.