Norrington brought Laura back to the fort, to his office. Norrington sat down behind his desk and sighed, rubbing his eyes. Laura stood near the door, quietly looking at the ground.

After a long, awkward silence, she looked up. "Are... are you... upset with me?"

Norrington looked over at his niece, and his expression softened. "No," he said. "No, I am not upset with you. Please, sit down."

Laura sat in the chair across from the Commodore's desk. "You are upset."

"Yes," he admitted. "But it has nothing to do with you or your presence here, I assure you."

"It's my Uncle Jack, isn't it?"

"Jack Sparrow is, regrettably, a pirate. And, family or not, pirates are hardly appropriate company for a young girl like you. I do not condone piracy in any way, and the only reason I allow you to associate with him at all is because of the conditions stated in my brother's will. You must understand my position."

"I understand," Laura said quietly, looking at the ground. "You're the Commodore."

"And as the Commodore, and also as your uncle and legal guardian, I must look out for what is best for you."

Laura nodded.

"I will be making arrangements for you to move into my house here in Port Royal and become a real lady. I think you will like it here very much, once you become accustomed to your new life."

"I... I suppose," Laura agreed, then covered her face with her hands.

"Are you all right?"

She didn't respond, and Norrington realized that she was crying. He wasn't sure what to do. Naturally he was supposed to go over and comfort the girl, but he had no idea what he whould do or say. He had little experience with crying women, especially young ones.

Norrington moved around the desk and tentatively knelt in front of Laura. "I... I hope I did not say anything to upset you..."

"No, no," Laura said. "It's... It's just... I miss my parents."

Suddenly the girl seemed falteringly human. Norrington no longer saw any trace of the adventurous bravado that usually lit a lively spark in Laura's face. Now she was just a scared little girl.

Norrington didn't know what to say.

"My father was a bounty hunter. He went after petty criminals, mostly thieves, and turned them in for the reward money. He wasn't very popular with anyone. Not the local criminals, of course, and not the law enforcement either. It was a dangerous job. My mother and I always worried about him while he was away. But he always came back, with enough money for us to live off of, until he made his next catch. Well, almost always..." Laura trailed off.

Norrington didn't say anything. He waited for Laura to continue.

"He left, just like for any other job. He thought this one would be easy, but... he didn't come back. A month later... that's when we heard. It was late at night, but my mother and I hadn't gone to bed yet. There was a knock on the door, and there was a uniformed man there... I'll never forget his face... and he told us. He said... he said someone had wanted my father dead. It wasn't an accident."

"Do you... know what happened?"

Laura shook her head. "The man didn't say. He didn't know. He said he didn't know what happened. All he said was that... that my father..." Laura buried her face again.

After a moment, Laura looked up again, her eyes red and her face streaked with tears. "Mother and I were alone then," she said. "She couldn't get a job, not as a bounty hunter's widow. So once my father's money ran out, she... and I... we had to resort to stealing... from the navy storehouse mostly. We didn't think they'd miss it."

Norrington said nothing, though he was slightly horrified by the fact that his niece had been involved in such an activity.

"We survived all right for several months. Then one day my mother went out to... get some food for the two of us... and there was a group of officers there, at the storehouse she'd been taking from, and they caught her and... had her hanged. I didn't watch. I couldn't. I waited a day hiding at our house. Then I took my father's will and... spent a year working my way... here." She looked over at Norrington.

He gazed at her young, grief-stricken face, letting the weight of her story sink in. Then suddenly something struck him. "Your mother was robbing a navy storehouse?"

She nodded, wiping her eyes.

Norrington suddenly felt sick, realizing that the officers who had arrested and hanged Laura's mother had been acting under his orders. He had heard of the sudden streak of robberies against the navy's storehouse. Naturally, he had suspected pirates and had ordered the thief caught and hanged. He looked away. "I'm so sorry..." he said quietly.

Norrington looked back at Laura. Then he reached out and put his arms around the girl, pulling her into a gentle hug. She returned the gesture, burying her face in his shoulder and letting the tears come again.

As he held his niece, Norrington realized that he felt something for the girl. It was more than duty to look after her, more than compassion for her troubled circumstances. It was love.

Kind of a short chapter, but I hope you liked it anyway. The next chapter might be a little short too, depending on how I break up the next few events.

FireChildSlytherin5: Thanks so much for all your faithful reviews!