Before long, it was evident that the captain's weather prediction was accurate. A storm was coming. The sky was dark and ominous, the air cool, and the sea choppy.

"Looks like a storm's coming," Wes commented to Norrington as the two of them sat in their cabin.

"Yes," Norrington replied. "It should reach us early this afternoon."

Wes nodded silently.

Norrington studied him for a moment. "Are you worried about her?"

"About who?" Wes asked stupidly.

"Miss O'Brien. It is quite obvious that you two care for each other, and you have seemed anxious ever since she moved into her own cabin," Norrington said. "You need not worry, however. I have ways of making sure the crew stays out of trouble. No harm will befall young Miss O'Brien."

Wes nodded again, not listening. If Norrington wanted to think that he was anxious because he was worried about Elle, so much the better. The real reason for his worry was, of course, that Elle would reveal his true identity. That would be disastrous, Wes knew.

A little later, Wes wandered up on deck. He gazed out over the ocean. Usually the water was a calm, inviting blue, but today it was a cold, angry gray. The sky was dark and threatening, and Wes could see lightning flashing out over the horizon.

Will Turner walked up behind Wes. "It will be here within a few hours," Will said.

Wes nodded.

"I wanted to talk to you about your duel yesterday," Will continued.

"Oh. That."

"Yes. Is everything all right between you and Miss O'Brien? If I didn't know better, I would say that it looked like the two of you were really trying to kill each other."

Wes didn't know how to respond to that. "We had a little... disagreement," he finally said. For some reason, he felt like he could trust Will, and he felt a sudden impulse to tell him everything. But then his better judgement took over, and he kept his mouth shut.

Will only nodded. "Women. Always the same. Unpredictable and volatile." He looked over at Wes with a slight grin. "Don't tell my wife I said that."

"All hands on deck!" Gibbs shouted, over the thunder and pouring rain, as if all hands weren't already on deck.

True to Will's prediction, the storm arrived before two hours had passed. Rain poured down, lightning flashed, and thunder boomed. The ship rocked from side to side, and threatened to spill over into the waves. The wind tore at the sails, and the crew fought to keep the sails from ripping.

Wes saw Elle struggling to tie a rope down. He hesitated a moment, then went over to help her.

"What are you doing here?" Elle snapped, trying to yank the rope from Wes's hands.

"Helping," Wes shouted over the crash of thunder.

"I don't need help from you!"

"All right, fine!" Wes shouted, angrily. "I was only trying to help!" He threw the rope back at Elle, and as he did, the sail slackened and was pummeled by a gust of wind that made the ship lurch. At the same moment, a rogue wave washed over the deck of the ship, catching Wes and pulling him over the side of the ship into the crashing waves.

"Wes!" Elle screamed.

Will Turner heard, and gave Elle a suspicious frown, a question in his eyes.

Elle noticed Will's glance, but didn't take time to explain.

Norrington noticed the commotion, and ran over to where Elle and Will were standing. "What's happened?" he demanded.

"Sam's gone overboard!" Elle cried.

Without hesitating, Norrington slipped his coat off and handed it to Will. "I'm going after him," he said.

"That's suicide!" Will cried.

"It'd be murder not to," Norrington replied, looking down into the angry waves.

Captain Sparrow had come up behind Will.

Norrington looked at the captain and said, "Keep to the code." Then he turned and dove into the waves.

The water was shockingly cold, and the waves violent. Norrington scanned the surface of the water for Wes. Visibility was nearly nothing, and Norrington knew it would be a miracle if he found the man. He swam out a little ways, following the current of the waves. It was dark, and still Norrington could not see any sign of Wes. He dove underwater and forced his eyes open, searching for Wes. When he couldn't hold his breath any longer, he surfaced again. He looked around again, fighting the rising fear that he might be too late.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. A blurry patch of white was bobbing up and down in the water. Norrington swam with all his might, and as he got closer, he saw that the white area was Wes's pale face contrasting against the dark sea. He grabbed Wes around the waist and was relieved to find that the boy was still breathing. Norrington turned to go back to the ship.

But the Black Pearl had vanished.

Norrington knew it was useless to try and find the ship. If Jack had kept to the code, the Pearl was long gone by now. If not, it would be impossible to find it in this weather.

Norrington held onto the unconcious Wes, fighting to keep both their heads above water, and trying to decide what to do. They couldn't stay there forever, he knew. Before long his strength would give out and they would both drown. They couldn't go after the ship, either. Their only hope was that the storm would blow itself out soon, and the ship would return, or that there was land nearby.

Both options were highly unlikely.

Norrington was just starting to think that the situation was hopeless, when his foot struck something hard. At the same moment, a flash of lightning illuminated the sky, revealing a small island not far off. Praying that he wasn't hallucinating, Norrington held onto Wes and swam with all his might towards the island.

The swim seemed to take hours. For all Norrington knew, maybe it did. At one point, he feared he wasn't going to make it. But then he felt sand beneath his feet, and Wes became heavier as his body was no longer supported by the water.

Using the last ounce of his strenth, Norrington dragged Wes up onto the beach. Then, exhausted, he collapsed onto the sand.

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