Thank you all for your reviews. I had a little typo in my disclaimer that I fixed, a curse for writing so many LOTR stories. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Pirates of the Caribbean.

Chapter 4

Two weeks to the day of their marriage and Miranda had seen little of the Commodore. He would leave for the fort just after breakfast and then not return home until long after she had taken her evening meal; and for some strange reason Miranda felt a little put off by that fact. Making her way into the kitchen, where Mary and Grace were busy readying for the evening meal and Grace had paused long enough to make lunch for Miranda.

"Mary, did the Commodore take a meal for today?" she asked and Mary shook her head.

"No, Miss," Mary said. "He forgot it this morning." Miranda nodded. He had been in a bit of a rush that morning, and barely mumbled 'good morning' to her before he left.

"Grace, pack enough for two, would you?" Miranda asked and Grace looked up at her.

"Two, Mrs. Norrington?" Grace asked and Miranda nodded her head.

"Yes, and in a small basket," she said a small smile coming to her face. "I wish to bring lunch to the Commodore today."

"He will definitely be surprised, Miss," Mary said a smile forming on her aged face. Miranda nodded her head as Grace packed a basket. Over the last two weeks, Mary seemed to settle in fine with Millie and Grace. Miranda even came to enjoy her company and help when Millie had left for a few days to tend to her ailing mother the first week after her marriage.

"Indeed," Miranda said as she took the basket from Grace, which was now filled with two sandwiches, two apples, and two sealed jars of sweet tea that Grace was known for. "Thank you, Grace." She smiled and moved into the foyer where she check herself in the mirror and sighed.

Once again, her curls were piled high on her head and she was dressed in a soft coral gown that Millie insisted she wear that day. Taking a deep breath, Miranda walked out of her home and down the cobbled path. She was to have lunch with James and find out just why he was avoiding her.

James nodded as Gillette continued to explain to him the movements of a pirate ship that was spotted not far from Port Royal and how the two ships sent to word them from the island had been successful. However, as he looked out the window his attention was taken from Gillette and on the woman that walked down the path, her steps firm and determined towards the fort.

"Commodore?" Gillette asked but James turned around, walked past Gillette, and out of his office. As he stepped outside, he noticed several of his men were looking at Miranda as she walked towards him with a basket tucked on her left elbow.

"Good afternoon, Commodore," Miranda greeted him with a smile on her face in hopes that her nervousness was not showing. Halfway to the fort she had lost her nerve, but she would not turn back. "Mary told me you left without taking your lunch. I've brought you some, and I thought that I might join you," she paused when she saw Gillette walking from the office a frown set upon his face. "However, if you are busy I could just leave the basket." She looked back at James and he looked as though he was either ready to yell at her to leave or to smack her; she hoped it was neither.

"No, I am not too busy to share a meal with my wife," James said tightly, his blue eyes flashing. He looked at Gillette briefly before walked to Miranda and took her free arm. "We can finish the briefing after lunch, Gillette." With that, James led her into his office and closed the door tightly behind him after he let go of her arm. "What is the meaning of this Miranda?"

"As I said outside, I thought I would join you for lunch," she said as she moved to a small side table and sat the basket down. "Grace sent some of her sweet tea," she said as she began unload the basket. "You have yet to try it seeing as you are never around, but it is rather refreshing." James sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I am never home for long, I do have duties to attend to," he said.

"Yes, duties that Governor Swann excused you from for the week after our marriage but duties you insisted on performing anyway," she said her back still to him.

"The nature of our union gave no cause-," he started but stopped when Miranda turned around quickly and looked at him.

"I know that there was no cause for you to have taken the time allowed, but I had hoped you would so we could have become better acquainted," she said quickly.

"Better acquainted?" he asked and Miranda sighed once more and walked over to the window that faced the bay and out into the ocean.

"I know very little of you, Commodore, and that fact may not matter to you but it does to me. I have told you that I have few friends, and as such I tend to shy away from the social affairs of the city. I spend my days inside buried in my father's books and the books he had given me." She turned around and looked up at him once more. "I know you are not happy. I am not happy, but could we not at least be civil with one another? Could you at least show me the courtesy of sharing an actual meal with me?"

"I have not . . .," he trailed off and looked down at the floor boards before he took a deep breath. He slowly turned his blue eyes to her green. "I have not meant to make you feel so isolated, but I am not used to sharing a home with anyone other than Mary and she required nothing save for her monthly pay."

Miranda couldn't help but smile, hoping that would melt away the sudden tension between them. James found himself returning her smile. It was then that James admitted to himself that Miranda was beautiful in her own way, and he was glad to finally see a true smile on her face since their meeting in her sitting room nearly three weeks earlier.

"I will do my best to attend evening meals with you," he said and Miranda nodded her head as she too took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Good, it has been strange eating alone. My father and I always sat for dinner and the company would be welcome," she said and James nodded his head as Miranda fidgeted with her hands and the ring that she was slowly becoming used to wearing. "I should go, eat your fill and I shall see you tonight." Miranda lowered her hands and moved to walk passed him, when James reached out and gently grasped her upper arm.

"Wait," he said and she looked up at him slightly startled. "You intended to share a meal with me, I hope you would share the same courtesy you ask of me," he finished rather quietly. Miranda smiled and nodded her head as he turned slightly and guided her to the table and pulled a chair out for her. She sat down and he placed a paper wrapped sandwich, one of the apples, and a jar of tea before her. She nodded her head in thanks as he took the seat across from her and took a drink of the cooled sweet tea. "This is rather good, does she make it often?" he asked and she nodded.

"As often as I request it," Miranda said and James smiled, a warm and inviting smile that suddenly made Miranda's stomach flutter.

"Then I shall have to have you request it often," he said and Miranda laughed quietly before she turned to her lunch and the pair spent the better part of an hour enjoying Grace's hearty sandwiches and each other's company while the men outside the Commodore's office talked of their commander's wife. For when they saw her walking towards the fort a bright smile upon her face, they realized that perhaps there was more to the union that was previously rumored.

As Miranda sat at her vanity and ran the brush through her mid-back length waves, she thought over the day. The Commodore had done as he promised and was home in time for the evening meal, he even joined her in the sitting room and continued their conversation regarding the works of a new author that had came on the last shipment from London. She had learned much about him that day. His mother, Sara, was alive and well in London, but his father had passed before he had even been made captain in the royal navy. He was an only child like she was, and since he could remember he dreamed of being a naval officer.

To her surprise, he did not laugh when she told him that she never really had a goal in life save to be accepted for her mind. His words at her admission still ran in her head as she lowered the brush onto the vanity and looked at her reflection.

"Beauty has its advantages, but as time passes beauty withers away," he said as he looked down at his glass of brandy. "A strong mind and spirit is something I admire in anyone, man or woman."

A swift knock brought her back to reality and she pulled her dressing robe tighter as she looked to the door. "Enter," she called and the door ripped open to revealed a panic stricken Millie. "What is wrong?" Miranda asked as she stood and Millie pointed out into the hall.

"It's Gerald, there was an accident with the horses," Millie breathed. "He is badly hurt." Miranda gasped before she put on her slippers and ran over to Millie.

"Lead me," Miranda said and Millie nodded before she pulled Miranda down the stairs and outside to the stable. The torches and moonlight that flooded the stable provided enough light for Miranda to see Marcus, Grace, and Mary already at Gerald's side, and Miranda rushed over to Gerald and kneeled down next to him. He was out cold and blood was on his temple and escaping from his mouth. "Millie, get the Commodore," Miranda said as she felt Gerald's neck. "Marcus, get Dr. Hamilton; his heart is weak." Marcus nodded and left the stable just as quickly as Millie had.

"Miranda?" came a panicked voice and she looked up to see James rushing into the stable. She paid no mind to the fact that he had called her by her first name; she was too consumed by the thought of Gerald's injury. He seamed relieved at seeing her well, but his worry was soon back on his face when he saw Gerald. "What happened?" he asked as he looked down at Gerald and pulled Miranda away, however, she moved back to Gerald.

"I don't know," she said quietly as she put her hand on Gerald's chest and looked up at Grace. "What happened?" she asked again and Grace wiped at her eyes.

"He was going to make sure Storm was set for the night. I heard a crash and a shout and rushed out here to find him like this," Grace said shakingly and Miranda sighed.

"I told you Storm was too wild, Gerald," she whispered as she pushed at the man's gray hair.

"Dr. Hamilton," James said and Miranda looked up at him. The good doctor, obviously pulled from bed, paid no mind to them and focused his attention on his patient. James once again pulled Miranda up from the ground and she found herself moving into his arms.

It seemed like hours as Miranda and the others watched Dr. Hamilton tend to Gerald, but as the good doctor sighed and looked up at Miranda, who grabbed onto James' loose white tunic so tightly her hands ached.

"I'm sorry, he is gone," Dr. Hamilton said and Miranda shook her head.

"Are you certain Dr. Hamilton?" James asked and Dr. Hamilton nodded his head.

"His heart has stopped and he is no longer breathing, I'm afraid the wound to his head was too severe and it feels as though his ribs were broken and may have punctured his organs." Miranda let out a quiet sob as she buried her face in James' warm chest and he wrapped her tightly in his arms.

"Tend to him, while I see to Miranda," James said. Miranda continued to cry as James scooped her up into his arms. She was slightly heavier than he expected but nothing he could not manage. Miranda wrapped her arms around his neck as she cried into his shoulder. "It will be alright, Miranda," he whispered into her hair as he carried her into the house and placed a soft kiss into her hair, a move that went unnoticed by the grieving woman in his arms.