James closed the door behind him and stumbled towards the bed. He deposited a half-full bottle of rum onto the bedside table and kicked off his heavy shoes. The shoes fell to the floor with a heavy clunk that shot right into James skull. He closed his eyes to block out the pain of what he knew was a growing headache. When he opened his eyes again, there she was standing in front of him. It always shocked James straight to the core to see Synnove standing in front of him as clear as day and wearing the clothing she had been the day that she died. The only thing that was different was that her white shirt showed no signs of once being covered in blood, almost as if she had never suffered the fatal wound. Synnove was standing between his legs and smiling down at him, her hands on his shoulders pushing his heavy coat off. He watched as she spun around away from him and folded his coat before depositing it in the set of drawers on the opposite side of the room. When Synnove moved it was almost as if she was gliding across the floor rather than stepping and quickly she made her way back to his arms. It was the small things like that which brought James back to reality. While Synnove had not been an outright klutz with her movements, she had never been too graceful either. It was a flaw that other men would have found scandalous, but it was something about Synnove that James always loved. If she tripped, he would have been there to catch her and hold her tightly. If she was unsteady, he would have been there to hold her upright. The way the Synnove of his dreams glided across the floor was something the Synnove of his memory could never have done. In his waking moments he clung to those differences, knowing that he needed something to remind him of the truth. He needed something to help him grip onto his sanity. James made no mention of Synnove visiting him in his dreams to anyone. He knew what it would sound like to Gillette and Malvina, they would think him to be insane. Sometimes he even believed it himself. But if insanity was being with Synnove, then that was what he wanted.
James was shaken from his thoughts by the feeling of Synnove's fingers cupping his chin as she tilted his head from side to side, searching him for any injuries that he may have received during the day. James watched as Synnove's eyes softened as they came across a long but shallow cut up high on his forehead which he had managed to conceal from view with his hair. Taking a deep breath he allowed Synnove's ice cold lips to press against the wound. Her lips moved as she tried to speak, but silence was all that could be heard. She frowned as she remembered that James couldn't hear her, the sadness in her eyes unmistakeable. James wrapped his arms around Synnove's form and pulled her onto his lap. As always her body was ice cold to the touch, but it was a coldness he had come to love. He rested his chin on her shoulder; the stubble of his beard would have tickled her, if she had been real. Instead her long pale fingers caressed his cheeks and her lips parted, moving to form words that James could not hear. Although he could not hear her speak, he could read the words from her lips. It was the same thing that she said every to him every night before she disappeared with the rising sun.
"I love you," she said without words.
"And I love you," James said, speaking aloud. He cared not if anyone heard him muttering through the walls. All he cared about was how she smiled when he spoke to her.
Her fingers made their way up into his hair, curling around the long brown coloured strands that James had not bothered to have cut. Synnove's fingernails dragged along his scalp so lightly that James could swear he could feel her touch for real on his skin. Sometimes when she touched him, if James didn't know any better he would swear that she was really beside him.
Slowly Synnove rose from James' lap, taking his hand in hers she pulled him to his feet. So began another routine which had become familiar in his dreams. Synnove's small hands would undo the buttons of his shirt from the top and he would undo it from the bottom until their hands met in the middle. James smiled, he wondered if she would be doing this for him if they had both made it out of the Ice Palace, but he already knew the answer. She would always be with him, living or otherwise. The dream he had had all those nights ago still remained fresh in his head and some night he found himself wondering if Synnove had lived, if they would have had any children by now. He sincerely hoped so, but knew it was futile to imagine such things, he was torturing himself with his 'what if' scenarios and it was doing him no good whatsoever.
Synnove's fingers on James' chin forced his gaze to focus back on her. She stood on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his. He shivered at the cold touch, wishing he could feel how warm she once was. Synnove took his hands in hers and back them both towards the bed, slowly pulling him with her to lie on the bed. James used Synnove's chest as a pillow, his arms tightly around her waist, her fingertips brushing through his hair. James felt himself beginning to fall into the clutched of sleep as his eyelids became heavier. He cursed aloud, but received only a sympathetic look from Synnove. Again she mouthed that she loved him and clung tightly to him. Darkness slowly crossed his vision as he succumbed to sleep.
"I will find a way back to you." James could swear he heard Synnove whisper into his ear.
His eyes shot wide open and he took in a large gasping breath. She had spoken and he had heard every word. His happiness was quickly diminished as the image of Synnove held tightly to him began to fade before his eyes until she was no more.
He looked down to see his shirt still buttoned and his coat tossed to the floor instead of lovingly put away like he imagined. James was lying on his back on the floor, a bottle smashed onto the floor near his outstretched hand. The rum had soaked into the wooden floor beneath him, leaving a dark stain in the shape of a triangle. He traced the stain with the tip of his finger absentmindedly as he tried to sort through his memories of last night. He had remembered coming into his room, but from then he could not tell what had been a dream from the moment after that. James ran his fingers through his hair and let out a sigh, it was getting harder to tell reality from dream. He knew that he should fear for his sanity, but he found that he did not care. James sat with his head in his hands, his eyes stinging at the memories which were forcing their way to the surface.
Something wet collided with James' hand, effectively jolting him out of this spiralling thoughts. Keys' head was tilted to the side as he watched his master. James reached out and stroked the dogs head, thankful for the beast's apparent intuition. His tail was wagging back and forth in happiness as his large brown eyes moved from James and towards the window. There was nothing there of course, but the dog continued to watch and wag as if someone he was well acquainted with was standing there talking to him. The dog's antics could be unnerving at times like this; it was as if he could see something that James could not.
James decided to ignore the dog and go about pulling on his discarded clothing and make his way downstairs to the breakfast he knew that Malvina would have made for him. He wished that he could be more thankful with his words, but even looking her in the eye was difficult enough. Gillette nodded a good morning to his former superior officer as they met at the top of the stairs. James walked slowly behind Gillette and Keys trailed behind James in a chain that he knew would make Synnove giggle if she could see it. He cursed himself silently, and began seeking out a bottle of rum to aid him throughout his day.
After breakfast Gillette and James made their way down to the dock to find repair work on one of the many ships docked in Tortuga. James had to double take as he thought he saw a familiar pirate face among the crowd, but with his second glance the man had disappeared. Just as well, James thought, the last thing he needed was to be reacquainted with an undesirable character. James put his head down and concentrated on his work, soon night would fall and he could get back to his room, back to his dreams and most importantly, back to Synnove.
A man walked, or rather limped, up to the bar in Malvina's Inn late in the afternoon. His hair was short and black with streaks of grey throughout. His features were sharp and his eyes scanned the Inn with expert detail. As he came closer Malvina was able to see that he has hazel eyes with splashes of yellow and brown amongst the green. Following behind him was a man who could not have been any older than twenty. He too had thick black hair which hung down his back, his features reminiscent of the man walking in front of him. The older of the two men, the Father, clutched at a necklace around his throat. He was so close now that he could feel it in his bones. In this very bar was the one thing he had been searching for thirteen long years.
Malvina found herself blushing for the first in a very long time, she simply could not help herself as she watched the strange new man and what appeared to be his son make their way to the bar.
"Good day," he said with a heavy accent. Malvina's eyes widened, his accent reminded her so much of her dear Synnove, but this man's accent was much thicker.
"Good day sir, is there anything I could get for you?" she asked, shaking away her initial shock.
"I am looking for a man," he said. "I believe his name is James Norrington, I was told that I could find him here."
"What do you want with him?" Malvina asked abruptly. She squared up the man before her, he was broader and indeed a bit taller than Norrington. While the man did not carry a sword that Malvina could see, the boy behind him had his hand at the ready hovering over his blade.
The man leant over the counter close to Malvina. His hand closed around his locket necklace and pushed it open. "I was told that he knows where my daughter is. Have you seen her?" When his locket opened, Malvina saw that inside there was a small painted picture of a young woman. As Malvina squinted at the picture she recognised the haunting blue eyes, pale skin and midnight black hair of Synnove Nordenburg.
Sorry this chapter is so short - but I can't just jump straight into the story now can I?
In 6 days I'm off on my giant adventure! I have 16 hours in Hong Kong so I'll definately get some writing done there. I also have a stop over in Munich but its only for a few hours - I wish that it was longer so that I could explore!
