Prologue

My mother used to tell me a story of a beautiful but feisty princess and her devil of a pirate.

It went something like this. 'Once, there was a princess, that longed for adventure. She would sit all day watching the wharf, wishing with all her heart that she could sail away.

As she grew up her longing also grew but so did her understanding of the world. She knew that in high society it was not proper to want such things. So, the princess hid her desires deep inside her.

Until one night, not too long after her eighteenth birthday, a noise woke her. Slipping from her bed she headed down the hall to the kitchen where the sound was coming from.

She slowly pushed the door open. On the other side, she found the strangest man she had ever seen. He had long thick dreadlocks, a tricorn hat, as well as beads, rings and other assorted shiny things.

When the pirate turned around (for surely he had to be a pirate) he found the most beautiful of sights. A woman with long golden locks that fell like rippling waves, brown eyes that sparkled like seawater, dressed in not but a simple white gown that left little to the imagination.

She inquired (in a rather rude manner) what he was doing. He said, 'You see love, the door,' he gestured to the door that led into the garden, 'it was unlocked and I thought if they're going to go around leaving their doors unlocked then I might as well take the kind invitation and have meself a bit.'

(She would remember years later that one of the first things he called her was love.)

But at the moment she took great offense and was about to demand he leave, (screaming hadn't even crossed her mind) when the clouds shifted and allowed the full force of the moon's light through.

His face she recognized it! It was the face of the famous pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, who she had spent hours reading about, and (she would only admit this late at night) who she was already partly in love with.

Instead of demanding he leave, she gathered some bread and a bit of cheese and sat down. She told him 'you can pay for your meal by telling me a story or two.'

So they spent the night talking and telling stories until the sun came up...and the cook came in. With a great scream of fright, the cook woke the whole house, as she ran from the kitchen.

Terrified the princess did not know what to do, but the pirate was already out the back door and atop the wall.

When the princess rushed after him, he paused, even as he could hear the sound of footsteps.

Reaching out to her, he said 'come on love, you don't belong here'

The princess stood there dumbstruck, but the sound of the door crashing open spurred her into action. She took his hand and was over the wall before anyone knew what happened.

The princess finally had her wish, she had an adventure, a pirate love, and in time a child, and they lived happily ever after. The end.'

It would be an embarrassingly long number of years before I realized this was the story of how my parents met, and that Mum had left quite a bit off there at the end.

You see there's no happy ending*, two years after leaving England, my mother was found by the Royal Navy (may they rot in hell) and my father killed in the ensuing struggle.

My mother returned to London, with me at her breast. To my grandfather's horror and shame. So, he forced her to give me up, to be raised by one of the maids. As far as the world was concerned, there was no Emma AnnMarie Swann, there never was, and they're not completely wrong.

A year after my mother's miraculous rescue from the pirate that had taken her, we moved back to the Caribbean. To the town of Port Royal.

I can't say my childhood was normal or even great, but it could have been a lot worse.

When my grandfather, Weatherby Swann, decided to take up the governing of Port Royal, he plained to leave me behind with Nancy Cooman, the maid he had given me too.

I can't imagine the pain my mother went through at the thought of losing me, but luck was on our side. Two months before my mother was set to depart, Nancy's husband died. My mother (the clever pirate that she is) used this to weaken her father's resolve, convincing him to take Nancy and me to Port Royal.

(Sweet, sweet, Nancy, you shall be dearly missed.)

Nancy was an amazing woman, she always insisted that I call her Aunt Nancy or Nessy as she preferred.

In public, she would take on the role of guardian but in private she would step aside for my mother.

She was a good friend not just to me but to my mother as well. She was one of the four people who helped shape me into the woman I am.

The other three being my father or the memory of him anyway, my mother (obviously) and Uncle Will.

Will wasn't really my uncle, he was the blacksmith and fine good one at that. He was also a great swordsman, practicing three hours a day (which in my opinion was a bit much), he taught me a lot. He also loved my mother, which I to this day can't stand, nor could I stand James Norrington, who was trying (and fail might I add) at wooing my mother.

Not that either one of them knew she was my mother, no one, but myself, Nancy, Governer Swann and of course my mum, knew who's child I really was.

And so I spent my first seventeen years, hidden way, a dirty little secret.

My mother blames my dramatic tendencies on the fact I could not express myself when I was younger. I blame it on my blood and so does father.

*not here and not know, this tale is all sorrows and woes, you might dream that justice and peace win the day, but that's not how the story goes… (Merely A Series of Unfortunate Events reference don't an indication at to how the story will go.).

Can you believe that this is four pages in google docs? My gosh! And here I was thinking I got a lot done, but nope it's only 1,159 words.

Ok, just to make the timeline clear, Elizabeth stayed in England until she was eighteen, left with Jack for two years, came back, left for the Caribbean, and then seventeen years later the first film happens.

Review, please :)