After cleaning up the mess left by the ghost I lay back down, the action had tired me and I had the feeling that in life the girl had been used to things being cleaned up for her. For the first time my bunk actually looked inviting and I threw myself upon it as best I could without harming my shoulder. As it was, I caused a brief flash of pain that made my eyes water.
I rolled things around in my mind, as the ocean rolled underneath me, surprisingly conducive to my brooding. The pieces that had been thrown at me were slowly sliding together. Will had compared me at first to a young woman he had known. He had spoken of her in the past tense, and now a girl who confirmed his story was haunting me. My only conclusion to this, was that this girl was one and the same.
I wondered what Will would say, if I confessed to him of his sweetheart's haunting. I had a feeling he'd find me insane. He didn't seem like the type to believe in ghost stories. Jack Sparrow might be more open to my dilemma, if I were looking for someone to talk with, but he was a pirate and pirates were a highly superstitious lot. I wasn't sure it would be best to let him know I was being haunted, he might think that the ghost was connected to me, he throw me overboard.
The day ticked by slowly, but true to my word I stayed in my bunk or in the cabin. Half way through that first day the wind died, leaving us near Port Royal, but not near enough where the crew wanted to anchor. Come the next morning my shoulder was healing nicely and I had taken to pacing. I couldn't handle being cooped up, I wanted to be up on the deck watching the crew work. I wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, but here in a cabin with nothing to keep me entertained. I had seen neither hide nor hair of Will Turner, Jack, or Morgan. I was certain they were all very busy, but I needed something to break the monotony of the day.
"Would you sit down?" Audra asked, from where she sat at the desk looking over a rare herbal that Jack had found for her amongst the odds and ends of his cabin.
"I can't." I replied, pausing in mid-pace for a moment, only to continue. We were playing a game that she had not yet caught on to. It was called let's irritate Audra until she lets me out.
"It's not difficult you know." She said, turning in her chair to give me an annoyed look. "You walk over to the bunk and bend slightly at the knees until your rump is resting on it."
"Oh is that how it's done?" I asked with a wide-eyed look that made her chuckle. "I've always wondered."
"Alright." She sighed, pushing her chair back and standing. "Alright, we'll go for a turn about the deck."
"Yes!" I cried, bounding for the door, this only brought another chuckle as she followed me. I was down the hall and up the stairs, breathing in the fresh air and reveling at the feel of it on my face. I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the sensation. After a few moments I opened my eyes and looked around. The crew on the deck paid me no mind, they were far to busy. Black sails were being taken down and replaced by white. I looked up to the wheel and as I expected Jack Sparrow was watching the progress with half an eye, the other was on the horizon. Will Turner sat to his right pouring over what looked to be maps. I watched as he traced the paper with his finger only to stop for a moment and write something down. The wind lifted his hair playing with it and his handsome face was set in a look of deep concentration. I felt my heart skip a beat only to start again at a much swifter pace.
"Taken a fancy to him?" Audra's voice made me start, and I glanced back at her with irritation.
"No!" I replied sounding uncannily like a school child; it was just the right amount of irritation, denial, and embarrassment, that told her the exact opposite of what my words said. She only smiled and shook her head, before starting up the stairs leading to Jack and Will. "Audra, wait, we should really go the other way."
"And why's that?" she asked, turning on the stairs and offering me a look that told me she was exacting her revenge for my earlier behavior. I couldn't very well tell her that I wanted to avoid Will, because his dead girlfriend would throw a hissy fit, if she knew I had the remotest bit of an infatuation starting.
"It wouldn't be a good idea." I said evasively, and she rolled her eyes as she stared up the staircase. In frustration I turned to go the opposite direction.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Audra called. "I'll keep you in the cabin until we dock."
"You can't do that." I retorted whirling back to her. "I'd like to see her try."
"William will lock you in if I ask him." Audra replied, her eyes dancing mischievously. "Won't you William."
Will looked up from his maps at Audra blankly. She stood with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Deeming it much better to agree, he gave a grunt of consent before returning to his maps.
"Damn it." I growled starting up the steps. Will glanced up as he heard me taking my frustration out on the stairs. Our eyes met and my irritation vanished. He smiled congenially at me, it was a cool smile, and one you could offer safely to a stranger. To my surprise it only caused my frustration to return. I looked away and out at the ocean and Audra struck up a conversation with Jack. I half-heartedly listened to some improbable story about his adventures, with some natives I had never even heard of. I kept telling myself it was better if Will didn't really notice me.
"How are you feeling?" I glanced to my right, to see Will had abandoned his maps and was standing only a few feet a way.
"What?" I asked, unable to think of anything more intelligent. 'Great, Dorian would be having fits, clever witty Lil is stopped dead by a simple greeting.' I thought closing my eyes and shaking my head at myself.
"Your shoulder, how is it healing?" Will asked, clarifying his earlier statement. I felt the color rising to my cheeks.
"Well, Audra says well." I replied, looking out at the sea to cover up my discomfort. Silence fell and I searched for anything to say. "So why are you changing the color of the sails."
"We're nearing Port Royal." Will replied, looking down at where the men were working. "The Black Pearl is known for her black sails, if we change them for white we'll be more likely to sail under the notice of Commodore Norrington."
"Commodore Norrington?" I asked looking curiously at him. He had said the last rather bitterly.
"He holds a grudge against me." Will explained softly. "And he hates Jack just on principal. A principal only made stronger by the fact he blames us both for Elizabeth's death."
"Elizabeth?" I questioned suddenly more interested in pumping him for as much information about the ghost as possible.
"My wife." Will whispered. "My late wife, she died because she wanted to be in the middle of the action rather than in the cabin where I'd left her."
"Oh, I'm sorry." I said awkwardly, not knowing what else could be said. He did not reply with the usually thank you or assurance that it was all right, instead he stared at the sea, his face impassive and unreadable. I could see the stark pain in his eyes, and the self-recrimination that told me Norrington wasn't the only one who blamed him for Elizabeth's death. Acting on instinct I laid my hand atop his on the rail and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Whatever happened, it's not your fault."
I let my hand linger there for a moment, as he turned to look at me his eyes unfathomable. There was an intensity about them that made me want to step back, but a small sad smile that graced his mouth held me there.
"Miss Jameson." He said softly. "You'll be giving the crew ideas, no matter how innocent your reason for holding my hand. Nor will they ever believe me if I explain the situation."
"Lillia." Audra said, saving me from him, my cheeks already staining red, and my temper heating. I hated the feeling of embarrassment; there were few feelings that were worse in this world. I turned away in frustration, both because of Will and because I knew Audra was going to take me to the cabin.
"Miss Jameson." I glanced back at Will, to find him watching me go with an odd mix of emotions I couldn't grasp. "Thank you."
I smiled at him at least part of my irritation alleviated; Audra just smiled like a Cheshire cat as she led me back to our cabin. To my annoyance she left me alone. With a frustrated sigh I sat at the desk with a heavy sigh and began thumbing through the book she had left there.
"We'll be docking in Port Royal in the morning." A soft voice said, startling me enough I fell from my chair. I looked up from where I lay sprawled on the floor looking at the ghost of Will's wife.
"Damn it." I muttered as I picked myself up off the ground. "Why does that make you suddenly appear now?"
"The Nautilus will be anchored off shore, not far from where Will and Jack usually anchor the Pearl." She replied. "I can help you get back your amulet. In return I ask that you go back and set things right."
My mind worked quickly, I didn't want to go back and change things, fate had done its duty, and I had a feeling it wouldn't take kindly to my meddling. I knew that dreadful things could happen in my changing the past. I wasn't certain how I knew only that I did. Still I did want to go home and Elizabeth might just be the only person that could help me. I knew if I turned to either Will or Jack I stood the risk of loosing the amulet. It was not just any stone; I had had it appraised a few years before to find it was a very rare nearly flawless emerald. The worth of such a thing was incredible, and I wasn't about to trust a pirate when it came to a possible monetary gain.
"Okay." I said slowly, knowing that once I was out of this time she couldn't do anything anyhow. She nodded her understanding of my agreement and then set to work telling me exactly what I needed to do. I would have to track down the hat and the cloak Audra had given me. Then as soon as we anchored I was going to make my way to the Storm's Wake tavern. It seemed that was where the Nautilus's crew went for sustenance and entertainment. She would guide me on how to walk and act so that I could slip in and find Culligan. From there we would drug him and get him up to a room where we would steal my amulet from him and return to the Pearl. Once I was safe I would use the amulet to go back. According to Elizabeth it was then that I would make the change before returning to my own time. Looking back on it, it wasn't the most foolproof of plans, but at the time I wasn't too experienced.
I waited until Audra fell asleep that night too keyed up to sleep myself. I knew I was walking into a potentially dangerous situation, but all I cared about was getting that amulet back. I paced silently until I couldn't handle it and slipped out the door.
The night was cool and there was only the briefest of breezes that propelled the ship forward. The night watch patrolled the deck silently nodding to me as they passed. I glanced at the wheel to find to my surprise Jack Sparrow was not at it. Instead there was a woman, she did not acknowledge me instead she stared straight ahead. I had the urge to look in the direction she was staring in. Unable to help my curiosity I did and as I expected I found nothing.
Without a word I moved to the rail, near the spot I had been the first night I had been awake aboard the Black Pearl. The night was clear and the moon reflected off the water, in a silvery shimmering road across the gentle waves. The water was black and impenetrable, like a moving mirror of obsidian.
"I thought I warned you against walking the deck at night." I did not jump at his voice, it was almost as if I had sensed him there. I did not look back only shrugged as he moved to stand beside me. "I also believe Audra confined you to your cabin. Do you ever do as you're told?"
"Sometimes." I replied softly, still not looking at him. "If I see the purpose to it. However, I could not take another moment in that cabin. I've stared at the walls of it for days."
"The purpose is to keep you from harm." Will sighed "But I don't see you worrying too much about your own safety."
"Sometimes." I repeated finally looking at him with a faint smile. "Have you been drinking this night?"
"No." he responded with a rueful smile and looking out to the ocean. "I don't often allow myself to drink like that."
"I see." I teased. "I guess I was just the lucky one."
"I asked your pardon." He protested and with irritation. He leaned against the rail his forearms resting on in, his attention pinned on the water below. I thought I caught a brief bit of color in his cheeks that was darker than normal, but it might have been a trick of the moonlight.
"You are entirely too serious." I said with a sniff and a smile to soften it. "You need to lighten up a bit."
"Lighten up?" he questioned giving me an odd glance. I looked out at the water debating on whether to explain it. He made me so nervous and I was already suffering from the emotion. My heart was hammering in my chest and my hands were sweaty. I wasn't sure what had happened to me. All my life I had been a friend of the guys, a regular tomboy. I could usually handle them with an ease that left them oblivious to the fact they'd been handled. Never before had a guy been able to rattle me as much as this one could. I didn't like it, I didn't want it, and I was tired of reminding myself of Jeremy. The fact I had never felt like this around Jeremy only made me not want to analyze it all the more. The silence was stretching and I was suddenly afraid if I didn't say something he was going to leave. I could sense it; he was shifting his weight to turn.
"I was only jesting." I said with a sigh, offering something to the silence. I looked at him to see him looking down at me, and suddenly I wanted him to kiss me again. I wondered for a moment what he would do if I kissed him and the dismissed the idea. I was no longer in the 21st century, I was in the 18h and the last thing I wanted was to give him the wrong idea.
"I see." Was his response, he started at me for a moment as if trying to gauge something. I watched him struggle with it for a moment before he took a breath and said what he needed to say. "I know the Nautalis is heading for Port Royal, they were headed that way with the slaves they bought in Africa to trade."
"Is that so?" I responded tilting my head, and smiling sweetly. "I didn't know."
"From your response I find that hard to believe." He said his eyes narrowing. "Promise you won't go near the crew. Whatever they took from you isn't worth it."
"You don't know the worth of what they have." I argued. "If you feel responsible for me in some way, don't worry. Once I leave this ship you no longer have to worry. I've always been a woman to make my own decisions, I'll deal with the consequences."
"No you will not." Will returned. "Some man will have to extract you from the danger you put yourself into. Some man will get hurt attempting to get your fool neck out of the noose, when if you were just sensible and left men's work to the men ,you wouldn't find yourself in such a predicament."
"I have never had a man as my keeper." I retorted. "Nor do I need a keeper."
"You need a keeper more than most women." He growled. "Stay away from the Nautalis, unless to be quite brutal, you want to be raped, tortured, and left for dead. They're not men to be trifled with. You'd better hope if they do catch you, that they do exactly as I expect they will, before Malachi gets a hold of you and returns you to Ripley."
"Thanks." I said with none of the warmth usually afforded to such words. "I'll keep that in mind."
I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my upper arm and whirled me back around to face him. I found myself with my back against the rail and his arms on either side of me blocking me from escape.
"Listen to me well." Will hissed with more urgency than anger. "I can tell you're a headstrong woman, used to getting your own way, but for the sake of those around you don't put yourself in that kind of danger."
"I'm not Elizabeth." I snapped, regretting the words the moment they came out.
"I see." He said, his arms falling to his sides and his jaw clenching. I could tell he was fighting the temptation to grab me and shake me. "You're far more like her than you know. I know I married her, I loved her and I watched her die in my arms."
"And if I were to die in your arms?" I asked unable to keep myself from the question.
"I won't be there to hold you." Will said coldly. "And if I were there, I wouldn't."
He swept past me with a cold dignity that made my heart sink and did not look back as he disappeared up the stairs to the Captain's cabin.
Riot: Yeah, I'm not very nice to them am I? Oh well, it makes for a good read. Off the top of my head I don't have any suggestions, but I'll think about it. Thanks for the review!
Dreamer: Definitely some sparks in this chapter. Nah, she's not there to help Elizabeth, remember in the first one she was sent back because that was where she belonged. Lil's no different, though this one is going to explain why they're supposed to. It's not just maps Will's researching. Glad you enjoyed the chapter, I hope you enjoy this one too.
Kat: Thank you what a sweet compliment. I really try for a bit of realism in all of my stories. Thanks again!
Grams: Yeah, I'm always one that's great for contradictions. Life can be so much more interesting with them. Well stories anyways. It's okay I spend most of my time talking to myself. It's a definite habit. Glad you liked the ghost, the inspiration hit me for it and I loved the idea, it's nice to see someone else does too. The great part of your reviews are always the fact you get the jokes. I loved that part, but you were the only part that caught it. Of course there are only so many people that read Newsies and POTC. How was the KC fest?
XoXSilverDragonXox: Is there something shorter I can use, it's a long name to type out. Anyhoo, yes there's something happening with her and Will, not that she's ready or willing for it, but then none of my characters are. Thank you, it was really sweet of you to tell me that I'm a great writer. I certainly try. Sorry I didn't update sooner, I'll try to do better!
