Eleven months later…………….
Ruby walked next to Commodore Norrington stoically as they walked through the town of Port Royal or what was becoming left it. The attacks started just a little over a month after they had arrived home, the pirates tore through Port Royal looking for the jewel and some of them who viewed Jack as a friend or owed him a debt, for Ruby. So far the Commodore had been successful in keeping himself and Ruby from harms way but with the attacks continuing there seem to be nowhere to hide and Norrington was becoming more convinced they were caused by Ruby who always smirked and laughed when an attack came.
"Do you see the destruction you have caused?" asked Norrington, "are you happy now?"
"Well I have not launched a thousand ships yet," said Ruby casually.
Ruby walked next to him dressed in a plain tanned linen dress, one common of a maid. She looked out at the half knocked down houses and burnt buildings as if she were looking at flowers in a garden. She had never shown any remorse to the Commodore, she refused to, it upset her that so many people had been forced from their homes, including Will and Elizabeth who immediately fled once Ruby and the Commodore arrived back in Port Royal and Will had been able to find out what Ruby and Jack were doing.
"I caused this?" asked Ruby intrigued but calmly, "I believe it was your proposition that brought this on."
"And how do you figure that?" asked Norrington as two rats quickly scurried in front of them going from one pile of rubble to another.
"You separated me from my husband," said Ruby simply.
"He is not your husband anymore," said Norrington.
"Jack never signed that certificate and I was forced to," said Ruby bitterly, "You can convince yourself that the marriage is over, but you will never convince me or Jack, we would never let anyone, especially someone like you come between us."
"You could stop all this you know, because if you do not it will continue on until you are dead."
"And how would I stop it?" asked Norrington.
"Agree to my proposition," said Ruby smiling.
"And that would be?"
"When I hugged Jack on the Pearl that day, I told him to tell any man who would listen that you had the Hellstorm jewel, most of the pirates in the area knew or at least had heard a rumor of who Jack had married," said Ruby as they continued to walk side by side through the torn town, "That is why they attack."
"That could be easily avoided by our leaving Port Royal," responded Norrington.
"Ah it could be, but they will follow, you are now being hunted and eventually I will be able to tell one of them I know where the jewel is," said Ruby, "and since Jack possesses it, I will be handed over." She glanced sideways slightly and seen a touch of realization come over the Commodore's face.
"Or we could leave the Caribbean all together, unfortunately you will be killed in that situation," continued Ruby once again glancing up to find a doubtful and questioning face, "you banned Jack from the Caribbean, once we leave Caribbean waters you become free game to him and God rest the soul of the last man who tried to kidnap me." The Commodore stopped dead in his tracks as he fully realized Ruby was right, Ruby stopped with him and looked up at him with a smirk.
"That is why you signed the divorce certificate," said Norrington slowly.
"The most beautiful part, is next you will think about hanging me now," said Ruby calmly, "but still you are a dead man because if you hang me, Jack and my family have no incentive to stay away. And Lord only knows those men under no circumstances like having something of their's taken away on them"
"The royal navy will," started Norrington in defense of himself.
"The royal navy can only stop so many attacks," snapped Ruby, "look around, they clearly could only defend Port Royal for so long before it came under siege, your plan did not work, men have died trying to protect it, Devon died because of it. And you could end it all by letting me go, because once I go they go. Am I really worth it? Am I worth this many men dying just to save your pride?" Norrington contemplated what she had confessed to him, she was right and the attacks were becoming violent enough that his men were starting to die in large numbers. She was also right that if he did retreat to England with her, Jack would be somewhere waiting for him and he would expect none less than death from the man who's wife he had taken. But he was not going to give up that easy, he was not going to just let Jack go because Ruby had cornered him and made a fool of him. He was not going to let her go without a fight.
"We will stay right here in Port Royal," said Norrington stubbornly.
"Fine then," Ruby shot back equally as stubbornly, "I am staying right here." She quickly lifted her skirts slightly and dropped down to her rear end sitting on the ground like a child. Commodore Norrington looked down at her, how Jack put up with her was beyond him, she had proven to be the most annoying and stubborn woman he had ever encounted.
"Fine," said Norrington before he walked away from her. Ruby sat there defiantly watching the Commodore walk away from her, leaving her there in the dirty road. She was mad that he didn't give in to her plan immediately, she was tired of this. Her frustration grew more each day as Jack never came, it grew because Norrington always seemed to allude the pirates who attacked and it frustrated her the most that her days were spent in conversation with Norrington since he never let her out of his sight. She had to admit she had no idea how she was going to get away from Port Royal and it almost annoyed her sometimes that Jack hadn't tried yet to rescue her, though he didn't know it Norrington would stand by his threat to kill her, she didn't even know if he would go through with it.
Quietly Ruby stood up slowly and smoothed her skirt out. She looked around and found herself completely alone, the town looked as if it were falling down around her feet, it was not the Port Royal she had first come to. Not wanting to go back to the Commodore's house and having no where else to go Ruby started heading down to the dock.
Ruby walked through the town, there were still people who chose to stay in Port Royal, and they were those who either worked with the pirates or fought against them. As she approached the dock she found the waters quiet and abandoned. Looking around the bay she found nothing, 'Jack has horrible timing' she thought, 'if that man had half a brain to him he'd come sailing into this bay right now'. And just for fun and her own amusement she stood there like she was more than sure she was going to see the black sails of the Pearl any minute. But she knew they weren't coming, eventually she sighed and stepped back from the edge of the dock. As she walked back up to the land she remembered the night Jack had "kidnapped" her and she had jumped in the water to get away from him. A smile formed on her lips as she remembered how much she had fought him them. She then remembered how much she had fought him on that day in India, she often wondered how thing would be if Jack hadn't thrown her off the ship, but that was in the past and couldn't be fixed now.
Jack sat next to James at a bar in Tortuga, once they had been set free or rather the Commodore's men threw them off of the ship before leaving them and a ship with no ropes or anything hanging over the edge, the two men left Robert in Port Charolette with Kurt's body. From there the two men had spent the last eleven months on the Black Pearl sitting just outside Caribbean waters, they had made runs into Tortuga whenever they needed supply or the navy has retreated closer into the port. They knew from the talk of sailors that Port Royal had been hit extremely hard from attacks in the last few months though none of them had uncovered the Commodore or the "jewel". Jack had been anxious from the minute they had left Robert to go into Port Royal and get Ruby, Gibbs and James had been successful in convincing Jack it was safer to wait it out rather than risk Ruby's life.
"We've waitin' almost a year now," grunted Jack, "the place is barely any more."
"Jack I don't think it be safe ta send you in after 'er" said James as he finished his rum, "they know ya too well, yer ta familiar."
"She's me bloody wife," snapped Jack slamming his mug down on the bar.
"And she's my sister," James snapped back before he grabbed the next mug of rum the barmaid set down in front of him.
"What the bloody 'ell is wrong wit' the lass," muttered James.