A/N: I just want to thank everyone who has stayed tuned in to this fanfiction through my long hiatus away from writing. Things are flowing much more easily these days, but I am forever grateful to those of you who have stuck with me from the beginning. Also, to those of you who are just now jumping aboard, welcome and I hope you enjoy it as much as my faithful readers have.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Elizabeth may have been startled to see Norrington standing there, but she was nowhere near as shocked as Jack was. The pirate jumped to his feet, but he was too late, Norrington had drawn his pistol. Jack froze, his hands raised in a small gesture of surrender. Without taking his eyes off the pirate, the commodore reached to push the door closed behind him. Jack was glad to see he was alone.

Elizabeth had risen from her chair, anger spreading over her features, "What do you thing you're doing, James?"

Jack shot her a strange look. Obviously she knew this man better than Jack thought she probably should at this point.

"I heard from one of the townspeople that you were harboring a pirate in your home. I should have known it would be you," Norrington said, switching his glance from Elizabeth back to Jack.

"It's good to see you again as well James," Jack said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Quiet!" Norrington shouted, cocking his pistol.

Jack squirmed, taking a small step back.

"Elizabeth, I've done everything in my power to help you over the last three months," he started.

"I know," Elizabeth said, unable to meet his eyes.

"But I don't know if I can get you out of this. Your neighbor saw you outside together and harboring a pirate is a crime against the crown. You may get off easily, but you will have to serve time for this."

Jack broke in, "It's not her fault. She didn't know I was coming. You could tell them she had no choice, I held 'er against 'er will." Jack knew Norrington would love nothing more than to pin a crime of that nature on the pirate.

"I said quiet!" Norrington shouted, taking several steps closer and aiming his pistol at the pirate's head. He switched his glance from Jack back to Elizabeth, "Your neighbor saw the two of you in an embrace outside," he said, his voice faltering. "I thought that maybe we could start over, that maybe eventually we could get to the point where I could give you what you needed. But from what I've seen myself now, I know that's not possible."

"James, it's not what you think," Elizabeth said, more tears leaking down her tear stained face.

"Maybe not," he said, "but I don't think I can ever make you happy Elizabeth. I may want to, but I can't."

Jack wanted to interrupt, but he knew that this conversation was much deeper than what he was able to understand on the surface.

"James," Elizabeth started.

"So I'm going to give you a choice Elizabeth. You can stay here and go to jail for your crime or you can leave Port Royal right now forever. I'll tell everyone that when I arrived you were gone. But if that's your choice, you must go now."

Elizabeth looked to Jack for help.

"Anamaria has The Pearl in the harbor right now," he said.

Elizabeth looked back to Norrington. He had lowered his pistol and was waiting for an answer. She crossed the room and picked up the sword that had been her husband's and a stuffed bear that must have belonged to her son.

"Let's go," she said to Jack.

Jack looked to Norrington one last time, noting the sadness in his eyes before tipping his hat in a small gesture of thanks. The commodore gave him a small smile and Jack took first the sword from Elizabeth, sheathing it in his sash and then grabbed her hand.

"Jack?" Norrington called, causing the pirate to pause briefly before he got to the door. "Take care of her. My men will be right behind you, but if you play your cards right, I trust you will have no problem in escaping them."

Jack gave another small nod before escorting Elizabeth outside into the rain. They hurried down the streets of the city and then into the woods to the boat Jack had hidden as he came into the town.

The ride back in the small rowboat was a quiet one. Although Jack had faith that Norrington would not directly chase after them, he didn't want to press his luck. The rain made it more difficult, but Jack rowed hard and fast against the growing waves as Elizabeth sat with her arms pulling Thomas' teddy bear close to her chest as she shivered in the cold. Jack's mind was occupied by the difficult task at hand of keeping them safe and he was glad for her silence during the trip.

After what seemed like days, The Black Pearl's hull loomed into sight. Jack's arms were burning from the rowing and he was beginning to worry about Elizabeth's health as she sat shivering in the cold rain. In no time, strong arms were hoisting them out of the sea and into The Pearl. Jack was glad that Anamaria had had the foresight to station someone in the crow's nest for the sole purpose of awaiting his return. Since they had left shore, the sea had only grown rougher, making it extremely dangerous for their tiny rowboat to get close to The Pearl for any length of time.

Anamaria was standing by Gibbs' side as he helped them on deck. Jack could tell she was surprised to see Elizabeth, but she said nothing.

Mr. Gibbs offered, "Miss Elizabeth, I'm terribly sorry to hear of your loss."

Elizabeth's honey eyes filled with tears as she nodded.

"Gibbs, hoist the rowboat in. Anamaria, man the helm until the rain lets up. I'm going to tend to Elizabeth and then I'll be back to discuss further plans for weathering the storm."

Anamaria stepped up, "The lass is going to need some dry clothes. She can stay in my cabin. I'll take care of her."

"Thank you Ana," Jack welcomed.

"Come, come dear," Anamaria said, putting her arm around the girl's shoulders to lead her below deck.

When the two were out of earshot, Gibbs leaned in to Jack, "So you brought 'er back here. It must have been worse than we thought."

"Can't you tell?" Jack asked. "She looks terrible. She has no one and nothing to go to."

"It is a sad state of affairs," Gibbs nodded.

The men worked in silence until Anamaria returned. The meeting that would normally have taken place between the three of them in the privacy of the captain's cabin was now relegated to the deck of the ship because of the bad weather.

"I gave her some fresh clothes and told her to get some rest. I'll get Edward to gather some food together to give her in the morning. She needs to eat something. Other than that, I'm not sure what to tell you Jack. I know the lass is in bad shape, but I'm not sure a pirate ship was the place to bring her."

"I had no choice," Jack started. "She has no money and no family."

"You could have left her some gold," Anamaria suggested.

"It was more than that," Jack shouted over the crashing thunder. "Norrington showed up."

"What!" Anamaria and Gibbs said, almost in unison.

"He's been watching the house, or someone has, expecting me to show up. He gave Elizabeth an ultimatum, leave with me or we'd both be arrested. I suppose he still has somewhat of a soft spot for the girl."

"Or he could have been setting us up Jack. We've got to get moving. He could be on top of us by now," Anamaria worried.

Jack tried to calm her, gesturing with his hands. "I don't think so. He had the perfect chance to capture me earlier, caught me completely off guard and unarmed, but he didn't. With the weather like this, there's no way the Navy is going to follow us."

"We're a main force in the Caribbean. There's no way they're just going to let us go. It's possible that he wanted you to lead him to our ships, Jack," Mr. Gibbs said.

Jack was beginning to get aggravated, "Norrington told me we had a chance to get away."

"And you trusted him?" Anamaria shook her head as she raised the telescope to peer at the shoreline of Port Royal.

I'm not going to argue with the two of you," Jack shouted over another clap of thunder.

"You haven't forgotten what happened the last time they caught up with us, have you?" Anamaria asked.

The remark came bitingly harsh to Jack.

"I think we should make way as quickly as possible. Given the weather, I know it won't be easy," Gibbs stated, trying to break the tension

"What are we going to do with her?" Anamaria asked.

"We're going to take her with us until I figure something out," Jack stated simply.

"She's going to stay in Tortuga?" Anamaria asked.

"Unless you have a better plan," Jack retorted.

It was silent for a minute before Anamaria mumbled, "You should have left her with Norrington."

Jack's face darkened. "Well, seeing as how she was going to be imprisoned on my behalf and I promised William she would always be cared for, I didn't see as how that was an option."

"It would have at least given us a chance to get away," Anamaria said under her breath.

"A lady like Miss Elizabeth is going to have a hard time in Tortuga, Jack. Someone will have to be responsible for her at all times," Gibbs said.

Anamaria crossed her arms over her chest, "You brought her. I've done my part."

Jack knew that the two women had never gotten along well, but he thought Anamaria was being a bit harsh on someone who had just lost their husband and only child in a tragic accident. "Then I guess we'll have to convince them she's with me."

Gibbs nodded and Anamaria shrugged.

"Now, we've got serious sailing to attend to tonight," Jack started.

"This rain's not gonna let up," Anamaria added. "It's going to require all of us and some of the crew to keep The Pearl sailing."

"Gibbs, awaken the men we'll need. Anamaria, man the helm. I'm going to take William's sword to Elizabeth and then I'll return."

Jack was below deck before Anamaria could disagree with him, making his way to the old cabin. When he got there he knocked several times before hearing a quiet response. He twisted the handle and let himself in, shutting the door behind him. Elizabeth was dressed in Anamaria's pirating clothes and was sitting on the edge of the bunk hugging Thomas's teddy bear to her chest.

"Hi," Jack said softly, sitting down beside her on the bed.

The only response was the creak of the ship sailing through the rain. Jack knew that if Elizabeth weren't so absorbed in her sad little world, she would not be happy in her surroundings. Anamaria had made the room nice enough for herself, but facing facts, they were still on a pirate ship and Anamaria, although a woman, was still a pirate. Jack wondered if he should offer his cabin for her accommodation.

"I brought you this," Jack said, pulling the sword from his sash.

Elizabeth did not reach to take it, but replied with a hushed, "Thank you."

Jack leaned the sword against the wall in front of them before hesitating and then standing to leave.

"Jack?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes," the captain responded, turning.

Tears had filled her eyes again, "Please don't leave me."

Jack moved to sit beside her again and embraced her as she began to shake from crying. "Shhh," he whispered in her ear, "You're with ol' Jack now. Everything is going to be fine."

Elizabeth continued crying hard for several minutes as Jack rubbed her back and whispered in her ear, until finally, the tears began to slow.

"That's a girl," Jack said. He pulled back to look in her eyes, moving his hands to rest loosely on her shoulders. He then ran one hand behind her neck and the other across her cheek, allowing his thumb to wipe away her tears.

She blinked several times and then her eyes focused on his.

"Shhh," he whispered, "see, it's going to be fine."

One more single tear escaped down her soft cheek and was caught by Jack's thumb. For some reason, and Jack wasn't sure why, the moment seemed intense and that thought caused him to suddenly pull away.

"The storm is going to get worse tonight. If you don't feel comfortable here, you're welcome to enjoy my cabin," he offered, handing her the key. "I won't be using it."

"Thank you Jack," Elizabeth said, suddenly wiping her face of tears. "You've been very kind to me."

Jack nodded, leaving the room to make his way back on deck.