a/n: Sorry it took me so long again...Life has been pretty crazy lately...

Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews; I love them! I believe williz asked Will/Elizabeth's ages; I think Elizabeth is 13, and Will is going on 13.

Enjoy!

Romen

Disclaimer: Unfamiliar; mine. Familiar; not mine.

Chapter 21

Mentorture

"I finished your shirt." Elizabeth spread it out on the bed and patted it fondly. "I do hope that the stitching was small enough."

Will ran his hand over the collar, fingering the light stitch. "Thank you so much, Miss Swann. It's...wonderful."

She laughed. "It's only a little stitching; nothing too serious, though I was tempted to embroider a flower."

"I will take very good care of it," he promised. "I'll never tear it again."

She sat down on the bed as he handled the shirt, staring at it. "Good! It would be a shame if it were to tear again." She fell silent for a moment before saying, "James is leaving today."

Will didn't reply. He pretended to become interested in an invisible speck on the shirt.

Elizabeth leaned closer to him. "I think that you two should at least try to patch things up before he leaves."

Will stood jerkily and went over to the chest of drawers. "What is there to patch up?"

"Please Will. James is my friend. I would like it very much if you at least bid him farewell."

He threw the shirt in a drawer and slammed it shut. "James and I don't get along very well, Miss Swann."

She stood, walking over to stand next to him. "Please Will; can you not do it for me?"

He heaved a relenting sigh. "I suppose..."

"Thank you Will!" She grinned. "That means a lot to me."

Will said nothing. Elizabeth watched him for a moment. "How is your eye doing?"

"Huh?" He fingered the bruised eye, trying not to wince. "Oh, it's doing fine. It doesn't hurt at all."

"That's good. What about your nose?"

"Great," he lied.

She shook her head. "I hope it heals up soon." She perched herself on the edge of the bed, growing serious. "My father wanted to see you yesterday. You aren't in trouble, are you?"

Will chewed on the inside of his cheek hesitantly. "Not really," he said, slowly.

"Good. What did he want to see you about? If you don't mind telling me," she added quickly.

He sat down next to her, letting out a deep breath. "I wasn't exactly punished."

She tilted her head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?"

He slouched against the wall. "I have to see Lieutenant Norrington for a few mentoring sessions."

He had expected her to laugh. Instead she made no sound at all. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was completely stunned.

"Well," she finally managed to say, "that isn't too bad, is it?"

"Not really. I thought it was going to be something worse." He almost wished it was, so he could bravely face it and impress her.

"And the Lieutenant isn't all that bad, is he? A bit serious at times..." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "He can also be a bit cryptic and not very interesting..."

Will cleared his throat. "Elizabeth?"

She stopped musing. "Yes?"

"I was just wondering..." He paused, feeling foolish. "Well, never mind. It was a silly question anyway..."

She frowned. "No, really, ask away."

"It was stupid. So, how is-"

"No, what did you want to ask?" she pressed.

He flushed. "Well, um, I was just- just wondering..." He paused again. "We're friends, aren't we?"

She blinked. "Of course we are."

"Good," he sighed in relief. "I mean, of course we are. I was just making sure..."

She leaned against the wall. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious...Oh, look at the time. I have to see the Lieutenant."

She stood. "I suppose I'll meet you this evening, then, to see James off."

He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Uh-huh."

Shortly after she left, he hurried down to the parlor, where he was supposed to meet Norrington. He dreaded this appointment almost as much as he dreaded 'seeing James off'. He mustered up all of the optimism he had before pulling open the door.

Norrington was seated in a chair beside a chest board. On the other side of the board was another chair.

"Good day," he said simply.

"Good day, sir," Will mumbled.

"I believe you know how to play?" He gestured to the board.

"Yes, a little, sir." Will sat down in the chair awkwardly, staring down at the black pieces that were his.

"How is your face doing?" Norrington moved a pawn two spaces forward.

"It's a little sore, actually, sir." Will moved his pawn forward, not really paying any attention. "But it's getting better."

"I'm glad to hear that. But remember, no action comes without consequences, even if they come back to haunt you further on in the future than you expected." He took Will's pawn, sliding his own into the same square diagonally.

Will, who took this to be Norrington's first words of wisdom, moved his rook and took the pawn. He wondered how long he would be here...

"Young Mr. Brunswick admitted to provoking you."

Will's jaw clenched. "He did, sir."

Norrington stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose he thought that was noble."

Will watched him move a piece, his hands clenching the arms of his chair. "I suppose."

"It would be what a gentleman would do." The Lieutenant paused. "However, a gentleman would have also controlled his feelings, and spoken politely, according to his company."

Will glanced at him quizzically as he took his turn. "Sir?"

"A gentleman," Norrington explained, "controls his feelings, his words, his actions. He's noble, honest, respectable, and not overbearing. He knows not to go too far, but to go far enough."

Will blinked. "How does he know how far to go?"

He tapped his nose knowingly. "By his place."

"His place...?"

"His roll in society. Everyone has a duty that they fulfill, no matter what their place is. A civilization is like the inner-workings of a clock. The cogs are all dependent upon each other. If one stops spinning, they all do."

"I understand." Will took another turn. "But- what if he does not know his place?"

Norrington thought for a moment. "Then he must find it."

Will frowned. "How does he find it?"

Will feared that he was going to say, "By joining the navy, of course!", but instead he said, "Laws hold a society together, young man. If the laws are not obeyed, then it shall fall apart. By simply obeying orders, a man shall find his place. Or, in other words, it will help him recognize the requirements of his station."

"So, laws-"

"-should be strongly enforced," Norrington finished for him. "It is extremely vital that one realizes their importance; which is to hold together a society, to create structure and balance."

Will nodded. "I understand."

(Space)

"Will!" Elizabeth hurried over, smiling. "How did it go?"

He hesitated. "It was interesting."

"That's good. Anyway, we should hurry. James is in the library." She sighed wistfully. "It seems like he just got here yesterday."

Will didn't say anything.

"I'm going to miss him," she went on as they climbed the stairs. "We don't get to see each other very often these days."

Will skipped a step. "What do you mean?"

"We try to write each other as often as we can, but he's very busy with his studies. Uninterrupted visits like this are very pleasant. Unfortunately they hardly ever happen, if they do at all."

"Is that so?" Will asked, a little too brightly.

Elizabeth frowned, watching him intently. She could hear bickering from inside the library. 'Blast,' she thought to herself, stamping her foot on the next step. 'She's here.'

"Miss Swann?"

"Hmm?" She glanced at Will. "Oh- um, nothing."

After all, she might not be there. It might be him...

She thrust the door open and stepped inside bravely.

"Liz!" An arm was immediately wrapped around her shoulder. "I haven't seen you in ages."

Elizabeth smiled sheepishly. "You were at the gala, Oliver."

"I forgot." He gave her a small smile and brushed the dark hair that was always falling in his eyes away. "We didn't get to converse very much."

James appeared behind his shoulder. "Get out of the way, Oliver."

"All right, fine." Oliver turned to Will. "I remember you. Liz told me about you. You're Peter, right?"

Will blinked. "Will."

"Will- what?"

"That's my name," he replied stiffly. His eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

James lip curled. "He's my younger brother."

Will snorted. "Brother?"

James was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Elizabeth suppressed a groan.

It was Wendeline.

She smiled staunchly at Elizabeth. "Elizabeth. I hope you're well."

"Good day, Wendeline." She returned the smile kindly. "I am doing fine, and I hope that you are as well. This is my friend, Wi-"

"Oh, yes, I remember you." She batted her eyelashes in his direction. "We didn't get to speak very much, and I'm sure that you don't remember me. I'm James's younger sister. My name is Wendeline."

"I'm Will. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Elizabeth clasped her hands behind her back. "Well, now that we've all been intro-"

Wendeline butted in. "No, really, the pleasure is all mine. It's so nice to get meet someone from England, someone with some class and culture. Everyone is so tasteless here. It's as if they've forgotten that we come from a civilized nation."

He nodded her on enthusiastically, as if it were the most interesting thing he'd ever heard.

"Why don't we sit down?" Wendeline gestured toward the chairs.

Will shot over to the bench.

"So..." Wendeline planted herself in a chair across from him. "What brought you here, William?"

"I was working on a ship," he replied eagerly.

She lowered her chin. "That sounds like very difficult work."

Will nodded. "We were always afraid of being attacked by pirates."

She gasped.

"The captain posted me as look-out- sometimes..."

She leaned forward. "He must have really trusted you."

Will grinned stupidly.

Elizabeth cleared her throat. "I didn't know you were look-out, Will. I thought your service consisted of mostly odd-jobs."

Will's mouth clamped shut. "Well-"

"There's no shame in that," Wendeline pointed out wisely. "You did your part."

Oliver snapped his fingers. "That reminds me of the time that we were sailing out on Father's boat, and James fell overboard and we had to save him."

James shot him a glare. "Be quiet."

Wendeline crossed her legs. "Really, Oliver, we all have heard that story one too many times..."

"So how are your studies going, Oliver?" Elizabeth interrupted loudly.

Oliver smiled cheekily. "The same."

"Horribly," James snapped. "He never shows up for his sessions-"

"I was horseback riding," Oliver retorted. "I had better things to do."

"And you never practice Latin-"

"It's a dead language anyway!" he exclaimed.

"I agree." Wendeline tugged at the fingers on her gloves. "It's not like we're going to speak it anywhere, and French is just so much more beautiful and romantic."

"I think they're both a waste of time," Oliver pointed out. "But I study French more than I do Latin."

"You don't study either of them," James sneered.

"Yes, but if I was going to study one of them, it would be French." Oliver bounced in his seat. "I almost forgot! Liz, have you been to the cave around this area?"

Elizabeth frowned. "Cave? I didn't know that there was a cave in this area."

"I heard about it outside of a pub," Oliver continued.

"I'm going to tell Mother that you sneaked out again," Wendeline jeered.

He didn't pay her any mind. "Anyway, someone was saying that there's a cave out here where natives used to practice sacrificial rituals and worship their gods. Only sacred religious leaders could pass through it. One day a group of pirates landed here, on this very island. They slaughtered the natives and took all of their valuables. The pirates had already collected a large amount of treasure, and they hid everything they had gained in the cave. Every single person went in, and not a single man came back out.

"It's said that the treasure is still there. But so is the wrath of the native priests. Whoever finds the treasure has their soul sucked out and trapped beneath the ground, with the pirates."

James shook his head. "I don't believe it."

"Then don't believe, but I do." Oliver turned to Elizabeth. "I know where it is. Want to go?"

"We shouldn't go, Miss Swann," Will interrupted quickly.

Oliver blinked. "And why not?"

"There's no point," he spluttered. "Besides, caves can be dangerous."

Wendeline shivered. "And dirty."

"But it would be fun," Oliver pointed out. "Especially if we found the treasure."

Elizabeth sighed. "I don't really care. Let's just go."

TBC...