"Will!" shouted Elizabeth from the top of the stairwell. She was half in tears and half in a state of panic. There wasn't much time left until the wedding, only two more weeks remained. While her father and Will seemed perfectly calm when it came to discussing the event, she'd become what Charlotte would have definitely called a "worry-wart."
"Yes, Elizabeth?" Will replied, running up the stairs and to her side immediately, as though he was doing nothing before, but waiting for her beck and call.
She pulled out a piece of paper with the cake design on it, "I need you to give this to the baker's wife. She's making the cake."
Will nodded and took the paper, before he could head back ot he turned to her, "Is there anything else?" he asked, plastering a smile on his face. He was hoping Elizabeth couldn't tell that he was quite annoyed. She had a habit of sending him out constantly with tasks.
She looked thoughtful for a moment, "No, I am quite certain that is the last task I have for you Will." She gave him a little wave before heading back into the tearoom, where she was surrounded by her other "friends" (women of the higher class), who were all discussing the upcoming wedding with excitement.
Elizabeth entered the room and took her seat just as one of the other women named Eileen spoke, "It is strange that you decided to forgo the engagement with Commodore James Norrington for William Turner."
Elizabeth turned to the woman, glaring. "It is strange. But there is logic to my decision. I did not love the Commodore, and I would have not been happy with him. Unlike you, I think of more than just myself."
The other women, who were looking at Elizabeth with wide eyes quickly looked back down at their teacups, while Eileen had a hand to her forehead, scandalized. "I think of others just as much as I think of myself."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and leaned in towards the woman, "Therein lays your problem." She turned to the other ladies, "Tea's over ladies, sorry." She got up and shooed the ladies out of the house, a fake smile on her face as the butler held the door open.
Just before he could close it, her father entered. "Elizabeth it's only 2:15 in the afternoon!" he said. "Surely you cannot be done with tea by now."
"I am done with petty women who have not anything better to criticize the decisions of one individual they barely know," she retorted, turning on her heel and storming into her room.
Her father stopped halfway up the stairs to her room, and decided better of it. He knew that she would most likely prefer to be left alone for a while, and talk to Will.
Elizabeth sat in her room, flicking through a small journal Charlotte had given to her a few years prior. According to the will they had found on Charlotte's property, all of her personal belongings went to Elizabeth, but the house and furniture went to Will. Elizabeth had chosen to leave the majority of things in the house, as that was where she would be moving into once she and Will were married.
It had been quite difficult to get the lawyers to allow Charlotte's will to be followed, for the woman had not died, but had ran away. Not to mention, that millions of kilometres away, Cutler Beckett was attempting to get ahold of the property along with the finances attached to it. However, his lack of proof that he was even on good terms with Charlotte, and the fact that Charlotte's name was on all of the paperwork for the assets of the Beckett family meant that he could not have any claim whatsoever.
"I wish you were here Charlotte. You would know exactly what to say to the people of this town. And you'd be a right sight better than the faces I am going to have to see at the wedding," she muttered, closing her eyes and falling back on her bed.
A few hours later, she found herself sitting between her father and Will, both of whom were well aware of what had been said at tea today. Will said quietly, his eyes glued to his plate as he moved a stray piece of broccoli around the rim of his plate.
The Governor had busied himself with drinking water during the silence. And seeing as they'd been sitting in silence for over a half an hour, he was quickly draining the jug of water that sat in the middle of the table quite quickly.
Elizabeth coughed slightly, "Did the caterers say anything about the meal plan?" she asked Will.
"Er- no, they're going to send you the different options to taste tomorrow," he said quickly as he shoveled the broccoli into his mouth, before she could say anything about how the caterers were supposed to send those files three days ago.
"Did you hear anything from Norrington, about the chase?" Elizabeth asked, noting Will's quick tone.
The Governor merely smiled, "nothing yet. In fact, we haven't heard from the Commdore in about a month. I do hope nothing bad has happened to him."
"Well, if he's chasing Jack, I would not waste my prayers," Will said under his breath, earning a glare from the Governor.
Elizabeth quickly spoke, "I hope Charlotte's doing fine. She would have had no problem hindering the Commodore's attempts to catch the Black Pearl." She paused before saying, "Do you think she and Jack are-"
"Elizabeth, is that really something to discuss. You were just saying today that you had an issue with those who stuck their noses where they are not wanted," her father said quietly as he took yet another sip of water.
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and continued to eat in silence. Until her father left, that is, then she turned to Will. "You seem awfully annoyed today? What's wrong?"
Will sighed before placing his fork down, and looking up at her, as though he were choosing his words carefully. "You have been somewhat-stressed since we started planning the wedding. Don't you think you ought to take a small break, and-"
Elizabeth's mouth dropped open, "Take a break! Will, the wedding is in two weeks-"
"I know when the wedding is, it's my wedding also," Will replied, his voice strained. He placed a hand over Elizabeth's, "But there isn't that much left to do."
Her eyes widened and Will realized that he may as well begin picking flowers out for his casket.
"Jack! This is madness!" Charlotte yelled as she steered the ship around, while Jack gave her directions from his 'broken' compass. "We can't see anything, and we ought to drop canvas. The ship can't take this strain!"
Jack turned to her with a serious look, "My ship, my orders love! It can hold. We drop canvas when I say we need to." Charlotte rolled her eys as she tightened her grip around the wheel. "Oh and go left," Jack added.
A strike of lightning crossed the sky and the deck of the ship was thrown in a second of sharp relief. The crew was scattered, and were flying around the ship, attempting to follow the captains orders over the wind.
Jack looked behind them, "I can't see them," he stated.
"You can't see anything in this weather," Gibbs yelled, as he secured one of the ropes, and pulled the rigging tighter. The ship gave a loud groan and a sudden lurch, causing the crew to fall slightly. Charlotte slipped and fell towards the floor, but found herself in Jack's arms. The pair quickly rightened themselves, and Jack caught he wheel, which was spinning rapidly to the right.
Charlotte ran and grabbed a length of rope, tying one end around the handle of the ships wheel and the other to the ship's railing. The ship gave another lurch and a loud crunch was heard. Jack quickly looked up, peering through the rain. "We should drop canvas!" The crew began following his orders, and Charlotte- as she walked past him, gave him a look that read "I told you so" before heading out to help the others. "No one likes a know-it-all," Jack muttered under his breath as she passed, causing Charlotte turn and give him a smirk.
Gibbs groaned, "We've been fighting through this madness for almost two days straight, surely the Captain will give us a break by now?" The others looked up at Charlotte, who was the only one that Jack listened to.
She shrugged, "I'll try," she muttered, glancing behind her at Jack, who was steering the ship rapidly from side to side.
They quickly dropped canvas, and felt the ship catch the wind slightly before slowing down. As though it were meant to be, the rain began to slow down and the winds were also becoming quite tame. "Well, how about that," muttered Jack with a smile. "Drinks all around!" he yelled, causing the pirates to give an almighty cheer.
The pirates were all drunk out of their minds, and were clearly incapable of following the captain's orders, which resulted in them all being sent to go sleep of the effects of their overindulgence. The waters had calmed, and the deck was quite peaceful, occupied only by Charlotte and Jack, who were still drinking.
"This wasn't your first hurricane, I imagine," Charlotte said, looking at Jack, as they sat down.
"I was born on a ship during a typhoon love, seems fitting that I know how to manage a hurricane," Jack replied.
"Makes sense," she whispered. "Where do you think we are?"
Jack pulled a map from off the table and looked at it for a moment, "We are just off of the coast of ….. this little plot of land right here," he said, handing the map to her, and pointing at a mass the size of a breadcrumb.
"Well then, we'll be able to resupply there," she said, taking a sip of rum.
Jack grinned, "You seem to be comfortable giving orders on my ship, love." He liked the fact that she was able to call things before he was. It meant she was well on her way to being a good first mate. Jack wanted to make her a co-captain, but he still needed time to be one with his beloved Pearl.
"Well, this is home now, so I might as well treat it like a home," she said with a smile. A breeze of cold air swept through the top decks, and the fact that the pair were still wearing soaking wet clothing did nothing to block the wind.
"We should go into the quarters," said Jack, who threw and arm around her, pulling her towards him.
Charlotte rolled her eyes, "A bit of wind never killed anyone," she said with a smirk, continuing to drink.
Jack grinned, "I beg to differ love. You will catch a cold, I learnt that the hard way."
Charlotte shook her head, "I'll be fine Jack, you worry way to –"she sneezed loudly, before looking up at Jack who merely whistled and looked up at the sky, muttering something that sounded "I told you so."
Charlotte rolled her eyes, "No one likes a know-it-all," she said under her breath as Jack helped her up. They headed down into the ship, and past the hammocks, where the other crewmates were sleeping heavily. "Where are we going?" she asked, as Jack took her further down the ship.
He stopped at a pair of double doors before turning to smile, "If you really do catch a cold, do you think I want you making the rest of my crewmembers ill? What if Norrington catches up?" he said with a smile, before opening the door.
Charlotte half expected Jack to have dragged her down to the holding cells to sleep, but was surprised to find herself in the captain's quarters. She looked at the back of Jack's head before heading over to the bed and taking off her shoes before slipping under the covers. But she quickly found herself being shooed out of the bed and back into cold air. She rubbed her arms and rolled her eyes, "what is it now, Jack?" she asked, turning to him.
Jack grinned, "There's no way in hell, that I am letting you make the sheets wet."
Charlotte was bemused, "Since when did you care if the sheets were wet?"
"Since right now!" Jack said, in an unconvincing tone. "I'm captain. My ship, my rules."
"My boot, your ass," Charlotte replied, folding her arms and staring back at him.
The pair never broke eye contact till Charlotte conceded. "Fine, what do I wear," she said, uncrossing her arms, and heading over to the chest of drawers along the left side of the wall.
Jack shrugged, "whatever you find," he said, not expecting her to locate anything.
Charlotte dug around in silence before finally withdrawing a white nightgown from the depths of the drawers. Jack gave in inward sigh, before turning around and allowing her to change.
A few moments later, he too found himself being forced to change into a new shirt and bleechers before clambering beside her. "Now what?" He asked, as the ship rocket through the calm waters.
Charlotte faced him, a mischevious grin on her lip. "Well," she said, moving closer to him, "everyone is asleep. There are no interruptions by enraged naval members to distract us…" She quickly straddled his legs, her face morphing to one of business, "you can tell me all about that broken compass."
Jack merely grinned before sitting up and reaching for the compass on the hook next to the bed. He tossed it to her and said, "Open it."
She followed his instructions and the pair watched as the needle swung around, before pointing to Jack. "It's pointing behind you," she sighed before giving it to him. "Perhaps it is broken."
Jack rolled his eyes, "my compass is unique, alright? It is not broken." He held it open and they watched once more as the needle swung round the dial before landing on Charlotte.
"It's pointing behind me," she said, looking over her shoulder at the rest of the cabin behind her.
Jack smirked before saying, "Love, you've played your cards right. You helped me get the Pearl back- not with ease I might add. You deserve to know what the compass does." He gently used a finger and guided her chin until she was looking at him once more. He moved closer to her until his mouth was to her ear. "Now, what I am about to tell you is a secret. You cannot tell anyone or I will kill you." He knew she was probably rolling her eyes, "Do you agree to my terms?" he asked.
"I agree, Captain," she whispered, "Now spit it out."
Jack grinned before looking her in the eyes, "The compass points to the thing you want most in the world. That 'thing' could be an object, a place, or even a person."
Charlotte's eyes widened slightly, "so when it pointed to me…." She trailed off and Jack gave a slight nod of his head. "And when it pointed to you…" she covered her mouth, as her eyes threatened to pop out of her skull.
Jack, not knowing whether his actions would be unwarranted quickly moved her hands away from Charlotte's mouth and kissed her. His hands found their way to her waist and he gently pulled at the soft fabric of the gown. A few seconds went by and Jack began to worry as Charlotte stiffened slightly. "She's not mad at me, is she? I mean the compass did point to me. Perhaps she doesn't know if this is what she wants? Why isn't she doing anything yet?"
Charlotte was in shock. She had been waiting for Jack to say something, but not for him to take action. Suddenly he pulled away from her, and she found him looking back at her expectantly. He scratched his head, "I um, what I meant to…. This isn't… don't get mad… you look mad," he stammered finally, looking at her nervously.
Charlotte did nothing for a few moments, except for sitting there and looking at Jack blankly. She was unable to form thoughts until "I don't want him to stop." Abruptly, Charlotte pulled Jack towards her and began to kiss him back. "I was…. Don't stop," she said against his lips.
That was all the encouragement Jack needed.