Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Pirates of the Caribbean. However I do own Rosalie and anything else you do not recognise.

A/N: I know it's been ages again, and I am very sorry! University life is taking it out of me and I'm finding it much harder to find time to write. However I am determined to finish this story so please, if I haven't already lost all my readers, stick with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter, like I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter Twenty-one

Rosalie felt as if she was flying. She was soaring. She was getting higher and higher with each gentle caress of Will's lips against hers.

Will's kisses were every bit as exquisite as she had dreamed they would be. But even in her most vivid of dreams, her imagination hadn't conjured just how he moved from placing several light kisses on her lips to suddenly taking her lips in a much deeper, much more intense kiss. Her imagination hadn't been able to capture just how this sent her whole body up in waves of heat and how she would suddenly feel so weak that she had to clutch at Will's shoulders otherwise she'd sink to her knees in the sand.

Will would repeatedly pull away as if ending the kiss, before surging forward again to take her lips in yet another breath stealing kiss. She didn't know whether to feel pleased or not when he did this. She immediately missed the feel of his lips on hers, but another part of her, the sensible part of her, knew that this couldn't go on forever. They were standing in the middle of a beach, where anyone could happen upon them.

The third time he pulled back she placed her hands on his chest and held him back so he couldn't steal her lips again. She took several deep breaths to try to calm her erratic breathing and looked down as she knew she would lose all resolve if she looked into Will's warm brown eyes again.

"Rosa…" said Will softly, stooping so he could look her in the eye. His own breathing was uneven and he looked rather shaken himself. "I-I'm sorry-"

Rosalie looked up at once. Her eyes were wide and hurt. "Y-You regret it-"

"No! Of course I don't," said Will at once. "I don't regret one second of it. But if you do…?"

"I don't!" said Rosalie. "How could I regret something like that!" She blushed as a slow grin crept across his face.

"I'm glad." Will bent forward as if to kiss her yet again, but she quickly held up her hand, blocking his view of her mouth.

"Oh no, you don't!"

"I-I thought-?" The hurt expression on his face broke her heart so she stepped forward at once and looked earnestly up into his eyes.

"I don't regret it at all." She tried to avoid looking at his mouth, because she knew what would happen if she did. "It's just w-we're on the beach."

Will's heart swelled at the adorable flustered look on her face as she glanced around as if to illustrate her point. He lifted his hands to frame her face and gently turned her head so he could look her in the eye. "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. I don't know what I would do if you regretted the magical moment we just shared." Rosalie's face reddened under his touch and he brushed a few errant hairs off her cheeks. "And as for the beach… well I don't think the people of Tortuga are beach people."

Rosalie giggled and hit Will's shoulder playfully. "This is not a laughing matter Will!"

"I didn't say it was, did I?" He grabbed both of her hands and tugged her closer. He noticed she had smudges of dirt on her face. "In fact, I don't think I've ever been so serious in my life."

She coloured even more and bit her bottom lip. That action nearly made him lose all self control and pull her into another kiss, but he didn't. He gathered all the resolve inside him and let go of her hands. "We should go and find that room."

Rosalie hesitated and then nodded her head.

xxxxxx

They found a couple of taverns with vacancies straight away, but neither of them reached Will's standards. When they were leaving the third tavern after turning down another room, Rosalie finally put her foot down.

"There was nothing wrong with that place! It's getting late Will. We need to pick a room or we will end up on the street tonight."

"Didn't you see the state of those places? You're a lady Rosalie. I'm not taking you to a pig sty," said Will, tightening his hold on her hand. He hadn't let it go once since their kiss on the beach.

"I don't mind a bit of dirt, Will," said Rosalie. She looked around at the surrounding taverns and inns. "Anyway, I don't think we will find anything much better in this place."

He looked down at the dark haired woman beside him and sighed. She was wearing one of her least elaborate gowns, but it was obvious from her the way she held herself that she was wealthy. She didn't fit in at all.

He watched as she stared around them and desperately wished that he could take her back home. She deserved pretty dresses and clean sheets, not to be wandering aimlessly amongst drunks and whores.

But this was what she needed to do. She wanted to unravel the mystery of her sister's disappearance, and Will knew that if he tried to take her back to Port Royal she would only go off on her own again. She was determined to do this, and he knew he much preferred her to be wandering the streets with him firmly holding her hand to her being on her own.

He followed the line of her nose down to her lips and gazed at them. And he had to admit that looking after the young woman definitely had its perks.

He lifted the hand that he was holding to his lips and pressed a kiss on the top of her hand, making her look up at him in surprise.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"I just wanted to do it," he replied softly, lowering his arm again. She blushed and he grinned. "Come on then. I think the first tavern was the cleanest."

xxxxxx

They went back to the very first tavern that they had gone to and booked themselves into a room. As they were passing through the main room to get to the staircase that led up to the rooms, they heard someone call out.

"Will? Will Turner?"

They both spun around to find a pretty, dark skinned woman lounging in a chair a few feet away. "It is you!" she laughed, jumping up and hurrying over. "I thought it was you. But I thought my eyes must be playin' tricks on me, 'cause the Will Turner I know said he'd never set foot in Tortuga again."

"Anamaria!" laughed Will, recognising the pirate at once. "Fancy seeing you here. How are you?"

Rosalie stared on, through slightly narrowed eyes. Who was this woman? Was she another whore? If so, then why was Will being so friendly with her?

"Oh, I'm good. Jack is working us hard on the Pearl," smiled the ebony haired Anamaria. "I wouldn't change it for the world!"

She noticed the young woman standing just behind Will and inclined her head curiously. "Who's your friend?"

Will pulled Rosalie forward by the hand. "Oh, this is Rosalie. Rosalie, this is Anamaria."

Rosalie nodded her head politely. She hadn't missed the way the other woman's eyes had narrowed at the sight of her and Will's joined hands. "Hello."

"Hullo. You sure aren't from around here are you darlin'," said Anamaria.

Rosalie wasn't sure what to make of her. She didn't appear to be too friendly. "That's because I'm not."

"Oh," said Anamaria. She stared at her for a beat before abruptly turning her attention back to Will. "How's Lizzy?"

Rosalie stiffened and glanced at Will who, she was relieved to see, looked uncomfortable at the direction the conversation had taken. "S-She's well."

"Where is she? Is she waiting outside?"

"Err…" Will wasn't sure what to say. "S-She's not here."

"Not here?" asked Anamaria, frowning. "The last I heard was that you two were getting married. I thought newly-weds were attached by the hip for the first few months. And-" she tilted her head towards Rosalie, "- what's with the tag along?"

Rosalie bristled at this. She thought the other woman to be terribly rude and didn't like her one bit.

"Rosalie's not a tag along," said Will firmly. This made Rosalie felt slightly better. "She's my… friend. We saw Jack earlier. Didn't he mention it?"

Anamaria shrugged. "I haven't seen him all evening. I have to put up with him all the time when we are out at sea, so I take the opportunity to get away when we come ashore."

"Rosalie and I came here to see Jack. We talked to him earlier today." Will pulled Rosalie up beside him. "He knows Rosalie's sister."

"That man just can't help himself. Does the little miss want money?"

Will shook his head. "It's nothing like that. We just want Jack's help."

"Why would Jack help?" asked the brash female pirate.

"Two words Ana. Blythe Sterling."

That last voice hadn't come from any of them. It had come from behind Will and Rosalie. The three of them spun to face the owner of the voice, each having already recognised the drawl of Jack Sparrow.

"Come again."

"Sterling has the little miss's sister," said Jack, slipping past Will and Rosalie to stand in front of his first mate. "Rosalie's sister is Lily."

"Lily? As in your Lily?" asked Ana, her shock obvious in her life.

"She's not my Lily," said Jack, tiredly. "But yes. Can't you see the resemblance?"

Anamaria stared at Rosalie closely. "N-Not really, Jack. But then again, Lily wasn't wearing a dress."

"You didn't see her that first time. The first time I saw her. She looked exactly like Rosalie does now."

Anamaria tilted her head to the side and then to the other. "Take your hair down," she ordered Rosalie suddenly.

Rosalie bristled even more, and opened her mouth to tell the other woman in no uncertain terms that she would not take her hair down, but Will squeezed her hand stopping her in her tracks. She turned to him and he nodded his head before letting go of her hand.

She stared at him for a moment, not quite believing that he was allowing her to be bossed around like this.

"Please, Rosalie."

The pleading look in his eyes was what did it. She was powerless to resist those eyes of his. She slowly nodded her head, letting him know it was him she was doing this for, and then reached up to release her hair, very relieved that she had left her hair pins at home and had simply secured her hair with a pale blue ribbon.

She pulled on the ribbon and her hair fell loose down her back. The effect was almost instantaneous; Anamaria gasped and slapped a hand to her mouth.

"The first time I saw her, I mistook her for Lily," said Jack. "They are, without a doubt, sisters."

Anamaria was staring unabashedly at Rosalie. "It is uncanny!"

"Yes, yes, but the important thing now is that Sterling has her."

"Sterling is completely ruthless. No woman would be safe with him," said Anamaria, shaking her head.

"That's why I need your help Jack! I need to get her away from that man!" said Rosalie, unable to stay quiet any longer. She had been watching, with great interest, the emotions that passed over Jack's face. It had looked for a very brief second that he was pained by Lily's predicament.

"We could really do with your help, Jack. We will go ahead and try and find this Sterling on our own if we have to, but we could really do with your help," said Will, speaking up.

Jack looked shaken by this news. "Sterling won't just hand over the girl."

"That's why we need your help."

Jack was hesitating. He wanted to help. Will and Rosalie had no idea what they were getting themselves in to. They would need a boat and a crew if they wanted any chance of defeating Blythe Sterling.

He glanced at Will. It was clear to him that the girl was important to him, and he did owe the blacksmith his life.

There was something else there too. At one point he had offered to take Lily with him, take her away from Sterling. He knew that the young woman didn't belong with a man like him, and now that he'd met her sister he was even more sure.

"I'll make it worth your while," said Rosalie.

"How?" asked Anamaria.

"You can have my share of the treasure. I don't want anything to do with it," said Rosalie. "I just want my sister back."

Jack could tell that she would do anything to make this wish a reality. His heart softened a little and he met Rosalie's gaze head on. "Okay. I will help you get your sister back."

A/N: There you have it. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think.