Author's Note: Sorry about how late I released this one, but I was working down to the last minute and I still don't like it much. There's been a lot on my plate lately and I just haven't found the time (or inspiration) to write. Hopefully the next chapter won't be so difficult and I'll get it out earlier in the evening. Constructive criticism is always welcome!

Kat yawned loudly. Being woken before the sun rose did not make her particularly well rested or, for that matter, happy, but she supposed that her lesson may as well be early. Otherwise her exhaustion would probably render her useless. Living on a ship was more work than she'd anticipated, but Kat had no doubt that she could survive. The only issue was that she had several extra things to do as a green recruit. It was only seven A.M. and she was feeling a bit apathetic, but that was probably the lazy bum in her coming through. At the moment she was trying to figure out what time it was, but with all the action, and having Norrington to teach her, Kat had other things to pay attention to.

"That ought to be good for today," said James as he sheathed his sword. He smirked before adding, "Especially since you seem so distracted. What are you thinking about?"

The girl blushed slightly both from his attention and the rather dirty ideas she'd been entertaining. "Nothing important," she replied trying to sound like that was the truth.

"Sounds like something to me," he said as his smirk spread into a grin. "C'mon I won't laugh." The former commodore watched her closely in hopes of catching some sign of her attentions.

"That's not what I'm concerned with," she thought as she judged what his reaction would be to the truth. He was a rather proper man and though she had little doubt he'd heard worse she didn't want to risk her standing in his eyes.

Norrington watched this conflict through her expression until finally a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. "Well?" he asked. Kat motioned for him to lean closer until her lips were right next to his ear. He could feel her breath against his neck as the hairs stood up there.

"You, James," she whispered as he answer before moving away from him. The man watched her in silence as if waiting for her to go on. "What?" she asked.

"What were you thinking about me?" he replied using yet another question. Kat paused. She'd expected this inquiry. She'd planned to leave before it came. Instead she found herself frozen, unable to move. After spending a few seconds trying to walk and cursing herself she turned her thoughts to more productive matters.

"I…" she began, "Just realized that I don't know much about you." A mental sigh of relief came over her and Kat relaxed. James however did not completely believe this lie. She had no reason to be so nervous about telling him that. Nonetheless he accepted her statement so as not to cause her more embarrassment.

"I don't know much about you either," said Norrington. "So how shall we remedy this issue?"

"I've got an idea," Kat replied. "We'll take turns asking each other questions, but whatever you ask you must answer yourself." The man nodded his assent and allowed her to ask first. The teen thought for a minute before posing her query. "What were you before you became a pirate? I was just a poor merchant's daughter."

Norrington told her of his navy days and then asked about her childhood. Kat replied as honestly as possible without revealing her true time period. That made some modifications necessary, but she didn't find it too difficult to alter her stories. James also seemed to reply truthfully and the pair continued this game of sorts throughout the day. The questions varied from the inconsequential "What's you favorite color?" to the serious "What's you greatest fear?"

For Kat this game's advantages were twofold. First, it made it much easier for her if she accidentally slipped a detail about him into conversation as she had an excuse for where it had come from. But more interesting to her was learning about Norrington. There were many things he told her that were not revealed in the movies and their counterparts which made this even more appealing.

James was also enjoying the interview. Kat was rather independent for a woman and she definitely considered herself as capable if not more so as any man. From what he'd seen this was a result of not pride, but a firm belief in the fairer sex. Because of this Kat was unlike most women he'd met. In fact he could only think of one that was even remotely comparable: Elizabeth. Norrington was quite certain that he was over the girl and along with his crush he had lost his faith in the evils of pirates and the good of the Royal Navy. Now he saw Kat as a new beginning, someone he could share the struggle of finding his place once again with, especially since the teen seemed as unsure of her status as he did. And learning about her looked to be a good way to start.

"What's your favorite drink?" Kat asked him. "Mine's tea with plenty of milk and sugar."

"Hmmm… I prefer a glass of good brandy," replied James.

"Never had brandy," she said thoughtfully while tangling a few ropes into a complicated mess. She was supposed to be practicing her knot tying skills, but most of her attention was on Norrington so her work was suffering.

"What about rum?" came a voice from behind her. Kat turned to see Matthew walking toward them. He paused to stare at the disorderly cords in her lap. "Is that supposed to be a knot?"

"Well…" The teen thought about it for a second before saying, "No, it's art!"

"Sure," he replied with obvious sarcasm, but he let it go in favor of his beloved liquor. "How could you prefer brandy over rum, man? Rum is the best of the best!"

"I disagree. I prefer something with a little more—" James paused to think. "Class."

"How could you say rum isn't classy? It's the preferred drink of all the pirate nobles," argued Matthew.

"Note the word pirate. That immediately implies the opposite of class."

"You just don't understand the finer qualities of alcohol."

"I think I understand quite well enough," replied James indignantly.

During this exchange Kat began untying the ropes with stifled laughter. Neither of the pair would back down and the arguments continued to get sillier and sillier. Eventually Matthew said that rum bottles were prettier and then James countered that the glasses used for brandy were better looking.

"Well we just drink our rum right out of our pretty bottles!" replied Matthew.

"But that means you're even less classy!" Norrington countered.

The two men looked like little children arguing over a silly matter which in a way they were. Kat couldn't believe that James was actually doing this. It just seemed so unlike him. She secretly knew that she also would be having a stupid argument if she cared about this to the least degree, but even so she felt like Norrington would be a bit more mature. "I guess there's a kid in all of us," she thought as she put down the freshly coiled rope. "Okay guys break it up," she told the two men, but neither of them heard her. She let out a frustrated puff of air before shouting at them in a louder tone.

Both men glanced over at Kat in surprise. They became abruptly quiet and both looked a bit embarrassed.

"Sheesh!" she exclaimed. "I never expected that out of you James or you Matthew for that matter." Norrington glanced over at his adversary and realized how silly they'd been. A sudden bout of laughter burst from his throat and rang out over the sea. Matthew also began to laugh and soon Kat joined in as well. The trio continued to release their amusement to the air until a confused Gibbs walked over.

"What exactly is going on?" he asked curiously. The three pirates just looked at one another and ended up laughing again. Eventually Norrington managed to get himself under control to reply to the first mate.

"Sorry. Matthew and I just had a rather silly and immature argument and it just caused us all to laugh once we realized how stupid we were." He pressed one hand over his mouth to keep himself from chuckling again. It was only funny because they had been there and so Gibbs was completely lost.

"Long as you all aren't going crazy on me," said the first mate as he looked at them strangely. He walked away and the trio began to giggle again. After a few more minutes they were under control and asking themselves why it had been so funny.

"Ah well," thought Kat, "That was a welcome bit of light-hearted banter." She smiled at the two men and sat crossed legged on the deck. "Sorry fellows, but I must be getting back to my knot practice."

"Don't you mean your art?" asked Matthew teasingly.

"It'll probably end up looking more like that," she replied with a sigh. "But I suppose I ought to persevere and learn my knots." The girl placed one hand dramatically on her forehead and fell back as though it were such a chore. In the process she managed to knock her head against the side of the Pearl. "Ouch."

"Such dramatics will only get you into trouble Kat," said Matthew. "Just stick to the basics like me!" He motioned with a flourish toward himself, but also managed to elbow another pirate causing a prime example of the domino effect.

"Oh yes. I should be just like you Matthew," she said with unabated sarcasm. The pirate turned and gave her a friendly scowl before walking off to help clean up the mess he'd caused. Kat chuckled at his misfortune and then moved her gaze to the cords in her lap.

"Poor fellow, he can't manage to keep himself out of trouble, eh?" asked Norrington rhetorically. He moved to the rail of the ship and leaned against it so he was right at Kat's left. The teen nodded in agreement and tried to get the ropes to do as she wished, but it seemed nearly impossible for her. She glared with envy at Cotton who had quickly secured a few articles right in front of her with no problems whatsoever.

"Let me help?" asked James. He felt a bit sorry for Kat since she was having so many problems. She looked up at him gratefully and agreed. The man sat close beside her and showed her how to tie the knots. When she had some real trouble getting the hang of it her took her hands in his and demonstrated exactly how to do it. After Kat thought she was used to it they coiled the ropes and put them away.

"Thanks," she said to James as they walked to the galley.

"It's no problem. Don't worry about it," he replied with a reassuring smile.

"But I've been such a burden!"

"No you haven't."

"Yes I have. All I've done is gotten in your way or caused you to stop your work to help me."

"But you've also been good company and I've learned quite a bit about you."

"You've done the same thing! It's not fair to you."

"Trust me. It's plenty fair," replied James with a sense of finality. He ruffled Kat's hair causing some of it to loose itself from the ribbon holding it back. She let the rest of it down and was about to pull it back again when Norrington stopped her. "You should leave it down. You look prettier that way."

Kat blushed and dropped her hands to her sides. She tucked the ribbon into one of her pockets and smiled at Norrington. "Thanks James," she said, "For everything."

"No thank you," he replied. Kat opened her mouth to argue, but he placed a hand over it to prevent her from speaking. She smiled against his hand and the pair walked off to dinner mutually agreeing to disagree.