"Elle," Wes said. She had told him her name and he liked the sound of it as it rolled off his tongue. "I am assuming your last name is O'Brien. That man on the ship was your brother."

Elle lowered her head and nodded solemnly. Wes could tell it still brought memories to her that she did not want to remember.

"He had hinted in some of his letters that he was coming for me. That was what prompted me to find another place to go. I had been giving him the address of the post office itself so we managed to maintain a somewhat regular correspondence. He thought I was living with a distant relative."

"And you did not want to go back to London with him?"

Elle gave him a dark look. "He intended to commit me to a convent, a Nunnery. A life of being completely bored to death and having an over-used sense of conservancy."

Silence passed between them, and Wes noticed Elle staring at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Your eyes. I never noticed them. One is blue, the other is green." She stood up and moved over to sit next to him. Sweeping his hair out of his face with her hand, something she had longed to do, she looked into the different colored eyes with a newfound fascination.

"They are beautiful, much more interesting than my dull ones," she trailed off. Their faces were close together, and their lips met in a hesitant kiss.

Hearing loud and heavy steps outside the cabin door, the two broke apart quickly. So quickly that the hammock deposited them both in pile on the floor.

The steps passed, and Wes assumed it was a pirate on his way to the privy or for a drink in the galley. He looked down to see Elle beginning to break into laughter at their unusual position. He smiled himself as he began to untangle his foot from the hammock and help her up from underneath him.

"False alarm?" She asked, accepting his hand as he pulled her to her feet.

"We really should be more careful, a repeat incident of earlier would just be inviting another conflict."

She went to her respective hammock and he went to his own. After lying awake and listening to her steady, soft breathing, he drifted off himself.

Elle woke up the next morning to the familiar sound of Gibbs' voice.

"Sleep well?" West asked. She looked up at him, apprehension showing in her eyes. She nodded, feeling her stomach practically flip.

What would the pirates think? She couldn't hide her secret any longer. She put down the hat that had become her safeguard the past few weeks and followed West out the door.

"Don't worry," he consoled her. "If anyone protests or tries to harm you, they'll have me to answer to. No doubt the Captain, Turner, and Norrington as well."

This assured her a little more and the pressure eased. The well-known scent of the salty sea-air hit her as they ascended above deck.

Ignoring the stares that were beginning to be directed at her, she walked determinedly to her post where she would be helping to control sails. Looking up, she met the eyes of a very stunned Pintel. Ragetti stood next to him looking equally shocked.

"It's a woman!" A pirate on the other side of the ship shouted. All heads now swiveled in her direction; the ship's attention was focused on her.

"It's bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir," Gibbs began, speaking to the Captain.

"She's been on the ship for a while, Gibbs. Bad luck has not come our way, only unfortunate coincidences," Jack answered. Gibbs opened his mouth to speak again, but thought better of it.

A large, burly man whom Elle had never met stepped in front of her and seemed to scrutinize every inch of her. A disgusted and sneering look swept across his features.

"Women are weak, they don't belong on a pirate ship," he said, his coarse voice sending shivers up her spine.

He looked to Elle's right and she knew West was standing next to her.

"I'm just sayin'," he continued, "I wouldn't be wanderin' around this ship alone if I were a woman."

Elle tried her hardest to disregard the continuing curiosity of the men as she worked. West worked alongside her, as usual, and she found his presence to be comforting. As she worked, doubts and fears began to gnaw at her mind once again.

The pirate was right. She was weak. Her mind argued between itself and reality. She had already lasted this far, and the Captain believed she could do it; else he would have dismissed her. She could still feel his eyes on her in his musky office…

Feeling different, she looked up to see West no longer next to her. She frantically began to look around, and sighed in relief when she saw him talking to Norrington. He had been doing that a lot lately. Elle began to wonder if they had known each other in the past. She would ask him tonight.

"How are you getting along?"

She stood up straight as she heard the Captain's voice. "Well enough, thank you," she answered. He sauntered close to her and she felt him brush her slightly when he moved to lean against the ship's side.

"I have no idea what sort of desperation would drive a pretty girl like you to my ship," he said.

"Captain Sparrow," West said, returning from his conversation. Jack nodded to him before getting a distant look in his eyes and wandering off.

"What did he want?" West asked her.

"He was just being friendly, he wanted to know how I was doing," she replied.

"A little close for friendly, don't you think?"

She gave him a disbelieving look. "You aren't jealous are you?"

"No, of course not," he said quickly. They continued to work in silence for the remainder of the day. Elle was glad when they were finally able to return below deck where the cool, dark air would envelope them.

"So," Elle began, as she flopped into her hammock. "What's going on between you and Norrington?"

"What do you mean?" West asked.

"I'm just saying, you two seem very familiar to have only just met on the ship."

"I might know him a bit from when I was younger, but we're not the closest of friends," he answered.

Stillness encased the cabin as the occupants retreated to their own thoughts.

"What about you and the Captain?"

"So you are jealous?"

"Not at all, I'm worried. You didn't see the way he was looking at you."

"West, he's not going to hurt me. He seems like a good man," she said. "Besides, why would I want him," she paused, "when I have you?"

He looked into her eyes, noting the sincere look that overshadowed them.

"You really think that way?" Elle blushed as she realized what she had said, knowing she had not ever uttered those words to anyone before.

"Of course," she pushed down the insecure thoughts. She smiled as West seemed very pleased with himself, and laughed in surprise as he jumped up and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Lovey-dovey chapter by the elf, ElfLuver13. (The space pirate isn't quite as good at that stuff.) And thanks to our new convert Keeran for the nice review!