After spending a long night in the armchair, Norrington got up with the sun to wash his face and eat a small breakfast. He saw no sign of Laura, and he hadn't expected to. There was no reason for her to rise so early, and, if he was completely honest with himself, he had to admit that he wasn't ready to face her quite yet. His outburst had been inexcusable.

When Norrington went back into the sitting room, Jack was still sprawled out on the couch, apparently sleeping soundly. Norrington looked at the pirate, sighed, then woke him. "Captain Sparrow."

Jack started. He opened his eyes and looked around wildly until his gaze rested on Norrington. "What are you going here?" Jack demanded.

"It's my house."

Jack frowned as his alarm melted into confusion. "Then what am I doing here?"

"A good question." Norrington sat down in the chair. "I don't suppose you remember anything from last night."

"Such as?"

"Such as showing up here in Port Royal with a bullet in your shoulder, without warning or explanation, and, if my suspicions are correct, without my brother's treasure."

Jack grimaced, though it was unclear whether the grimace was caused by the accusation or by the pain in his shoulder. The pirate's eyes darted around the room for a moment, then he sat up. "Lovely weather we're having, don't you think?"

"Sparrow - "

"But our girl Laura has grown up quite a lot, hasn't she?" Jack interrupted, getting to his feet. "Not so much a girl anymore. A proper young lady now, isn't she? Quite lovely, if I do say so myself, just like her mother. Runs in the family, it does." Jack spread his arms and pointed to himself, grinning.

"Where is the treasure?" Norrington asked.

"I assure you, I had only the noblest of intentions," Jack insisted, raising his hands defensively. "That is to say, it wasn't my fault. Not entirely. Per se. The entire situation was almost completely out of my hands." He displayed his hands and wiggled his fingers as if demonstrating that his hands were, in fact, empty. "Mostly."

"I thought so." Norrington stood to leave. "I trust you can see yourself out."

"No no no!" Jack cried. He ran to cut off the Commodore's exit, waving his arms. "Wait, just one moment." Jack winced, and clutched his injured shoulder to his side. "Just one moment, if you don't mind, Commodore."

Norrington frowned at Jack, waiting, but not patiently.

"The treasure," Jack said. "Yes, about the treasure. It's..." He paused." Well, it's not here."

"Yes, I surmised as much."

"That is not to say that its unfortunate lack of presence here was due to any dishonest indiscretion of mine," the pirate insisted, holding his shoulder, though still managing to include the lower half of his arm in the conversation. "I had every intention of bringing it right here and entrusting its safety into your capable hands, just as I promised. But a very unfortunate and exceedingly complicated set of unforeseen circumstances overruled my honorable efforts at retrieving your late brother's buried treasure. It's almost, funny, really, and when I tell you - "

Norrington cut him off. "Brevity would be appreciated, Mr. Sparrow."

"Right, of course." Jack began pacing around the room as he talked. "Three years ago I told you I would find the treasure and deliver it back here to you and the dear girl. And find it, I did. The instructions what your clever brother hid in his will were most helpful, to be sure, and I had no difficulty whatsoever in following them to their intended destination. And the treasure was there, chests filled with gold, emeralds and rubies and diamonds, giant ones, fancy jewels and other such shiny whatnot of a monetarily expensive nature. Well, I collected up the lot of it, stashed it in the cargo bay of me own ship and gave the crew strict instructions that this particular cache of shiny was not to be touched, and I made straight for Port Royal with all haste."

Norrington very much doubted that he was getting the whole story. He turned in place to follow Jack's movements.

"But, as you in your infinite perspicacity must have by now deduced, we were met with resistance by another vessel what also had a marked interest in acquiring any manner of treasure, whether already acquired by someone else or not. Naturally I and my crew resisted her efforts, yet, sadly, we were vastly unsuccessful."

Norrington narrowed his eyes. "Who was this other?"

"Another pirate. Most fearsome pirate captain I've ever encountered." Jack paused. "Besides myself, of course."

"Of course."

"I've been plundered," Jack said fiercely. "Cruel twist of irony, wouldn't you say?"

Norrington was silent for a moment, considering the pirate's story. "I have a hard time believing that all of this occupied the better part of three years."

Jack laughed nervously. "Let's not haggle over minutiae, shall we? The important thing is, I'm here now, and now that we're both informed of the situation, it will be no trouble at all for us to reverse this horrific misfortune."

"We?"

"Well, seeing as my ship and crew have just come out of a battle, one in which was suffered a disheartening defeat, we're hardly in any shape to be facing this nemesis on our own, now, are we? Besides, we've already lost to her once. I doubt very much that the aforementioned reversal of fortunes would be possible on our own."

"So you want my help."

"Aye." Jack grinned. "Any amount of assistance you could offer, in the form of a ship and a crew, seeing as your Navy men are well-trained and well-armed for such battles, would be greatly appreciated and would surely render this mission a success."

Norrington laughed slightly at the pirate's ridiculous suggestion. "Well, Mr. Sparrow, seeing as the entire situation is your fault, and seeing as the treasure was stolen in the first place and can hardly be rightfully claimed by anyone, including myself, I am not going to commission one of the King's ships to accompany you on your wild goose chase."

Jack frowned. "Norrington, mate, your lack of faith is most disheartening."

"You're on your own, Sparrow. You got yourself into this mess, and I trust you can see your way out." Norrington paused and smiled slightly. "After all, you are Captain Jack Sparrow, aren't you?"

"Ah, yes, well, there is that." Jack paused. "But in light of that important fact, don't you see what a predicament I'm in? This terrible adversary has stolen my very dignity as a pirate! My reputation's at stake here!"

"Whatever shred of dignity you may have once possessed was forfeited when you took up piracy as a profession."

Jack frowned at Norrington. "My shoulder hurts."

"Uncle!"

Both men turned and saw Laura standing in the doorway.

"Laura, my dear!" Jack exclaimed.

"Good morning, Laura," Norrington said, managing to display a guarded smile for the girl's benefit.

"Uncle, you don't mean that," Laura insisted. "Surely you're not going to just forget about the treasure."

"How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough. The treasure was supposed to be mine. My father said so in his will."

"I assure you, Laura, my military compensation provides more than enough funds to provide for your needs."

"It's not about the money, Uncle. Don't you understand? My father was murdered for that treasure. Surely you're not just going to give up?"

Norrington sighed. "And what course of action do you propose we take?"

"Well, find it, of course. You're the Commodore, a great man of the sea. And my Uncle Jack is the greatest pirate that ever lived. Surely together the two of you can track down one pirate ship."

Norrington looked hard at Laura for a moment, then shifted his gaze over to Jack.

Jack grinned. "The Pearl will be ready to leave first thing in the morning."


Hello again. I hope now you can kind of see where this is going. Leave a review and tell me 1) something you're thinking about my story and 2) your favorite color.