The next morning I stood alone in the cabin, looking out across the waters from our little porthole window. A storm was brewing again. I could see the bruised clouds moving closer, lightning flickering in the distance. It appeared we had anchored. I wondered if we would be taking the small boats and rowing to shore today. I hoped not, the sea was choppy with the incoming storm. The floor underneath me bucked and was making me slightly queasy. I turned back to our empty cabin and made my way relatively steadily toward the desk thumping myself down into the chair.
Audra had been gone when I had awoken, and uncharacteristically I had remained where I was. I had no desire to run into Will again. It appeared he was going to be one of those people I loved to hate. He was attractive enough to make my spine tingle, with that serious look that begged for someone that could loosen him up, and a sorrow that made you want to heal him. He was an intoxicating mixture, I had only today or possibly tomorrow and I would be able to leave the Pearl behind forever. I wondered what Audra would make of it, I pondered with a snort. I had spent the past few days making her life miserable as I tried to find a way out of our cabin. Now that we were finally leaving the ship, I was content to stay in our cabin.
In boredom I thumbed through her herbal for a few minutes completely disinterested. Finally tiring with that after only a few minutes I began doodling on a blank page in what appeared to be her journal. Just as I was unable to stand the boredom any longer, the door opened and admitted a very happy and slightly blushing Audra. I said nothing, but I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head in question. She giggled and raised her arms which were full of fabric of two colors. One was a soft rich rose the other a rich golden bronze in the same tone. As I took in the cream colored linen that trimmed what was obviously a sleeve I was surprise to find they were dresses.
"Where did these come from?" I asked in delight taking the bronze dress that Audra handed me. I shook it out and held it up. Cream colored linen lay in a double flounce on the sleeves, overlaid with another flounce of the bronze. A cream colored fabric made up the stomacher of the bodice, and the full skirt had been expertly cut to swirl around the ankles without bunching too much at the waist. It was simple and some where in between upper and lower class. The middle class did not exactly exist in this time and the closest was the merchant class, which often dressed as well as the upper class.
"Damn." I looked up to find Morgan struggling not to trip on the froth of petticoats. Unable to help himself, his foot caught on one such offending garment and sent him sprawling down onto a bed of cream. Audra and I laughed unable to help it. It was comic, the look on Morgan's face only added to our amusement, as he looked up at us. He appeared baffled as we helped him to his feet and rescued the fabric from the floor.
"You can go Morgan, I think we can take it from here." Audra told him, he flashed us a thankful look before scampering off to do something far more manly. "Real womanly clothing, compliments of Jack."
"You certainly are getting quite a few gifts from good old Captain Sparrow." I said giving her a sly smile. She blushed and looked away from me as she shook out the second dress.
"I mentioned the fact that we couldn't very well find employment in Port Royal if we were not properly dressed. Particularly you. He told me there were some dresses in the hold that they had taken from a ship and haven't had any use for. He though about selling them, but he said without giving them to seamstress shop and commissioning them they may as well be rags to clean the hull with. He certainly doesn't have the time for that. Along with the dresses I was able to procure some undergarments for you." She told me her cheeks still rosy with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. "We won't be going to shore until the storm abates. If the waters don't calm until dark falls we'll have to wait until morning. Jack is afraid we might be dashed upon the rocks in the dingy, they'll be rowing us to shore in."
"Lovely." I said with sarcasm, looking toward the porthole. I needed off this boat and away, from everything. I needed my necklace and my way home.
There was a knock at the door and my gaze swung to it with curiosity. Audra however was nonplussed as she moved across the cabin and opened the door. My eyes narrowed as I saw Will standing in the doorway.
"Jack asked me to attend you. He had pressing matters to address with the crew." Will told her looking slightly apologetic. "He said you might have need of a couple pairs of hands so I caught the cabin boy in the hallway."
"The cabin boy?" I asked unable to hold back my irritation for the boy that had essentially saved my life. I had seen the flash of anger and sorrow in the younger Turner's eyes at his brother's classification of him. "Don't you mean, your brother? Or how about Morgan? That still too intimate for you? You could just call him Turner."
"Are you certain you need me Miss Audra?" Will asked completely ignoring me, but the grateful look in his brother's eyes had made it worth it. "I fear you are sewing her up for naught. I have a feeling she'll be laying dead in the dirt some time soon."
"Stop it both of you." She snapped, my eyes were caught with Will's what did he mean sew me up? "You lie down on the floor, and you kneel next to her head."
I looked at the bucking floor with some trepidation, then back to Audra who was rummaging about in her case of herbs and other healing odds and ends. It didn't take any long stretch of the imagination to figure out exactly what Audra needed help with. I felt a stab of fear, without any numbing agent this was going to be painful. Not to mention I wasn't certain how Audra was planning on sewing my shoulder closed with any sort of even stitching while the ship was being tossed on the waves. My nausea returned full force.
Looking up from the floor I could see everyone was waiting for me. Audra looked impatient, but I could see the compassion flickering in her eyes. Will was watching me with the sardonic look of someone who is about to see an enemy get their comeuppance, and his little brother watched me with worry.
"Frightened?" Will asked me with a lift of his lips that settled into a mocking smile.
"No." I hissed flopping to the floor and lying down. "Could we get this over with, the sooner we get to shore the happier I'll be."
"Perhaps you should be." Will said as he knelt near my head. "this will be the least of what you have to look forward to if you insist on following your foolish and dangerous path."
"I can take care of myself just fine Master Turner." I said scathingly. "Audra would you hurry it up."
I found it was far easier to respond in anger than to let Mister Turner see my worry. 'I had a tattoo for crying out loud,' I tried to reassure myself. 'An hour of constant pain without relief, I can do this, really it should be nothing."
Audra proceeded with calm, as she gently loosened the ties that held my shirt about my shoulders. She held the center of the shirt to my chest as she had Morgan slide my arm free of the shirt, leaving my shoulder bare. Will leaned down, one hand on either side of my head, his hands gently, but firmly resting on my shoulder and the arm of my injured shoulder. The silence was deafening and I remembered the loud rock music of the tattoo parlor, at the time it had annoyed me, but now I would be grateful for the distraction. I watched as Audra threaded the needle with sinew and squeezed my eyes shut. What I wouldn't give for someone there so that I could squeeze their hand. Who had been with me during my tattoo? I frantically tried to remember as there was a stab of pain when Audra pushed the edges of the wound together. I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my pursed lips.
"Hold the wound like this." Audra ordered Morgan, who complied causing another whimper; I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth trying as best I could to keep from embarrassing myself further.
"Look at me." The order from Will came as a surprise and my eyes popped open to look directly into his. They were warm as they watched me the compassion I had seen in Audra's now his. "If you keep your attention on me it will be easier."
I don't know about that." I grumbled, he gave me a smile and nodded encouragingly. I looked down to find Audra's hands only inches from my flesh the needle tightly held in one hand. "Oh shit." I cried before squeezing my eyes shut again.
"Keep looking at me Lillia." Will ordered softly I snapped my eyes open again and I cursed myself for the fear that surely was in them. His hand slipped down, his elbow still pinning my good arm and wove his fingers through mine. "Hold on tight. It will be alright, I promise." I wanted desperately to believe him. The feel of the needle entering my flesh made my back arch and my jaw clench painfully in an effort not to cry out. My hand spasmed and clenched Will's tightly.
"Don't look away." He whispered, my mind slowed taking in every moment and searing it into my mind. His brown eyes watching me with encouragement and worry, his breath smelling of cloves, his face was so close to mine our noses were practically touching. It was as if he were trying to take up my entire attention so that none would be spared for the pain.
Despite what had passed between us I found my eyes drifting to his mouth and I wondered what it would taste like. I licked my lips. My eyes snapped back to his when the thread was tightened and Audra dipped into my flesh again. Will's eyes were gentle and with a hint of sorrow as if he were apologetic it was painful. He never relaxed, his strength pinning me to the floor to keep me still enough that Audra could sew the wound closed. The wound was deep enough and long enough that it was going to take two layers of stitches to keep it closed; I wondered if the sinew would ever dissolve or if I would forever walk around with the thread in me.
Tears leaked from my eyes silently with only an occasional whimper when I couldn't handle it any longer. After what seemed like an eternity the needle stopped and I could feel Audra tying off the thread that was holding my flesh together.
"You did well." Audra said, as Will let me go, and I sat calmly wiping away the tears that had dampened my hair. My shoulder burned like fire.
"I'll be on my way then." Will mumbled, he gave me one last unreadable look before he slipped out the door. I looked back at Audra, who gave me a reassuring smile.
"Don't even think of it." A voice whispered through the cabin, I looked to Audra who was thanking Morgan as she led him to the door. There was a deadliness that was frightening. I wasn't certain if it was because it came from someone dead and therefore was naturally frightening with its otherworldly sound, or that perhaps that even in life she had been that cold. "He's mine and always will be. We were connected from childhood and no one can come between us."
"Well death appeared to come between you just fine." I muttered. "If you want my help you would do well to remember I can control the necklace not you and it is you that needs the favor from me. It isn't smart to threaten me."
"What was that?" I looked up to find Audra standing a few feet away her face worried. "Are you hearing things Lillia?"
"I'm fine, just trying to work some things out in my head." I said airily waving my good hand as I worked to get my injured shoulder back into my shirt. I would have to be more careful when communicating with Will's dead wife.
I spent the remainder of the day in the cabin dozing and daydreaming, and wishing for home. I prayed that I would survive long enough to get home and that I would regain my necklace. After a quick turn about the ship just before dinner, Audra gave me a small dose of laudanum in my tea and I fell into restless sleep that lasted for the remainder of the day and well into the next morning.
I awoke to dimness, looking to the portal I saw only gray. Fog coated the waters and it seemed the crew breathed a sigh of relief. There had been some tension coming into the waters close to Port Royal. Will's explanation hung in my mind. It appeared the crew was loyal enough that they worried for their Captain and First Mate. Luckily the fog served as a shield, no boats would be searching for pirates in waters with this poor visibility, and it would be less likely they would be seen.
Audra was once again gone, but she returned after only a few minutes. I was still contemplating whether or not to get out of bed or roll over and go back to sleep.
"Let's get you dressed." She said with a cheerfulness that frankly irritated me, I've never been much of a morning person. She helped me from to my feet and slowly she helped me dress. She exclaimed in satisfaction when she had finished tying the laces across the back of the bodice. I looked down at it and couldn't help a sigh at its simplicity. It was a poor replacement for the sea green dress that had been lost on my journey thus far. Still it wouldn't do for me to be better dressed than those I was to work for. I sat patiently as she brushed my long hair and pinned it up.
"Thank you." I said softly trying desperately to ignore the pain that was shooting down into my fingers. I sat silently in the desk chair and watched as Audra dressed herself, trying desperately to breathe correctly. The corset had been slightly too small, just as the dress was small and I breathed shallowly. It was making me feel dizzy and I forced myself to concentrate on my breathing until I was breathing as comfortably as possible through my diaphragm. Once Audra was dressed we wove our way through the ever moving ship to the deck where boats were waiting to take us to shore.
The first person we came upon was Will. I watched him as he worked, his sleeves rolled up until just past the elbow as he pulled on the ropes that would raise the dingy. His eyes slid to us and back again before he took a quick double take. He seemed startled at the visions of femininity before his eyes. His eyes lingered on me and there was a pain in them that made me want to reach out and comfort him. I broke contact before I did something that would embarrass us both..
"So you're leaving us lady?" I looked down to see Morgan Turner on my left. He watched me with soft eyes and I knew I was leaving behind an admirer. It was too bad he was so much younger than his brother; he was an improvement that was certain.
"Yes Morgan. We're going to shore, perhaps when you dock next in Port Royal we'll see each other again." I said gently not wanting to hurt the lad's feelings, after all he had saved my life, or at least attempted it. Though with some luck, and the help of a ghost I really couldn't help in return, I would probably be gone then.
"Damn fool women," a man muttered as I had wondered past looking to the shore I couldn't see. "Unlucky the lot of them, they'll get us tossed into jail and hung."
It appeared that the Commodore Norrington, Will had told me of wasn't too keen on this particular bunch of sailors. I had over heard a whispering argument between Jack and the man that I passed the night before, about the foolishness of sailing near Port Royal. It appeared though, that Jack was a man of his word and was taking us in despite the danger to both him and his crew. Part of me thought it was in part to thumb his nose at the authorities of Port Royal, and to snicker when he snuck away while they were none the wiser.
Just vaguely I could make out land and I stared hard through the fog, my eyes seeing bits of a cliff as the clouds swirled around us. Elation and fear filled me, danger was courting me I could feel it. I might not get away from the crew of the Nautilus alive, but I would rather die trying.
"Contemplating your death are you?" A voice whispered near my ear. I shivered, though whether it was in reaction to his breath tickling my ear or the uncanny reading of my thoughts I wasn't certain. "That is what will happen should you not keep your distance from the crew of the Nautalis."
I turned my head to look into his eyes, my face set in a haughty demeanor. What stopped me from retorting was the fear that lurked there. He truly feared for me, should I continue to seek what was lost to me.
"I have no choice Will." I told him. "What was lost is worth more than any precious stone. This goes beyond family heirlooms and riches. It has far more than sentimental value to me. I need it, or I'll never be able to return home and that is something I have to do. I do not belong on this ship or in Port Royal. Don't fear for me William, if I die trying to redeem what is mine, it would be far less a problem than if I stay here."
"Nothing is worth more than your life." He hissed urgently his hands gripping my upper arms. "Nothing do you understand me?"
"When you say this you are thinking of Elizabeth, of your wife. You've said before that you see her in me and that might be true, but know that it is not a foolish reason I go courting death. Unlike her, I am not rushing into this blind. I am not look for adventure or action. I know what lies before me and I have no other choice. You don't have to save me to feel as though you've somehow redeemed yourself for not being able to save your wife. I don't belong here, I don't belong among you. I can't explain it Will, you wouldn't understand or you'd think me mad."
"Try me." He said firmly, as though if I could just give him a good reason he could let me go. "Living day in and day out with Jack Sparrow stretches your range as to what you deem madness." I looked into those orbs the color of the deepest amber and for a moment I almost relented. I almost took him into my confidence and would have asked for his help. I knew I couldn't do this on my own. I knew this was a man's world. Unlike my great-grandmother I understood this fully and I had no other choice.
"The boats are ready. Miss Audra?" One of the sailors inturuped us and I looked to him thankfully. I could trust no one; I could get attached to no one. I knew it couldn't lie in my destiny to stay here. Also unlike my great-grandmother, I had family and friends that needed me back home. I had a love, a betrothed and I couldn't forsake the promise to marry him. Audra glanced back at me before taking his hand and settling herself with the other crew member on the small boat that would be rowed to shore. Jack meandered past with his usual rolling gait.
"Very interesting." He said again looking at the two of us before continuing on to give his farewells to Audra.
"It's time for me to go." I said pulling my good arm away, afraid for my bad I did not tug, but he released it any how. "Forget about me Will. Stick true to your earlier promise. Sail from these waters and forget me. I most assuredly will do the same the moment I set foot on the shore."
I turned from him and did not look back. I allowed myself to be helped into the boat, my eyes to the waters and land. Purposefully I looked kept my word and I didn't look back. When we reached the shore and we were helped from the boat I risked a glance back. The boat was as hidden from me as the shore had been earlier. For a moment though the fog parted and I could see a man standing at the rail, his eyes burning across the water to land. For a moment it appeared he looked at me before turning and walking away. My heart sank a little, as I knew it had been Will Turner. Why his walking away hurt me I don't know, but I wasn't about to let myself be caught by it.
"Leave him." A voice ordered in my ear, caught on the wind it gave me shivers and I knew that Elizabeth had followed us. I looked back to shore and the steep road we would have to take around the cliff that would eventually lead us into Port Royal. The men did not give us farewells as they slipped into their boat and turned back for shore and we did not look back again.
I'm not certain that anyone will remember what they wrote it's been so long since I've updated this story, but here come the S.O.'s anyway.
Detroit: They do an awful lot of jumping back and forth between the getting along and not, but it's more interesting that way. Makes when they do get together so much more fulfilling. Thanks for your review by the way. Oh and I did catch your request to update this chapter in your DTD review. This chapters for you honey.
Silver Dragon: Forgive me for leaving out the X's & O's. Thanks for your sweet compliments. I live for reviews, just as every writer here does. I'll have to check out your updated. Will is mean, he's had some tough blows, but he'll get better, they always do.
Grams: Cabin fever, is there nothing worse when your sick or injured than to be stuck in the same room? The period phrasing is a little more difficult in this than in any newsies fic. More formal, I'm glad I'm getting the hang of it though. Amulet next. As always I look forward to your reviews, thanks.
Ciara Lewis: He is mean, he's supposed to be, Elizabeth's death has marked him just as it should. Elizabeth isn't really evil, she just wants her life back, her husband back. She made a selfish choice that is hurting Will and it's changed her too. I think I've updated BWF since the last time I updated this one, I'll try to get another update soon. Thank you for your review.
Riot: Oh where, oh where has Riot gone……………no updates on your end for a long time. Let alone any reviews. Yeah, he is that type of man, he'll be there to help her even when he doesn't want to. Part of him does see this as a way to redeem himself for Elizabeth's death. I like this Will, since when have I ever written an overeager puppy? Even Mush has that dark streak in him. After all we all want a good boy that has a bit of bad underneath. That is the true ultimate man. Thanks you for your review honey, and get updating damn it!
Dreamer: Here you go, here's the story I've contemplated letting to. It was a struggle to get through this chapter. I'm not certain why, but it was pretty difficult. Can't wait for that update you've promised. Haven't seen it yet kiddo. Get crackin! Thanks for the review.