Part 1: Be Ye Not Lost Among Precepts Of Order

Notes:

Still not mine, Movies AU

I'm taking the movies and a version of the script I found on Kindle and combining that with dropping Charlie into the mix to create the AU.

Short chapter this time around.

The next day Charlie was browsing the bookshelves Norrington kept in his dining cabin. Every book was philosophy or science or tactics until she came to a copy of Les Aventures de Télémaque, a book about the son of Ulysses and his travels with the disguised Minerva, goddess of wisdom. It appeared to be worn and clearly well-loved. She wondered how long he had had the book, smiling to herself at the idea of Commodore Norrington enjoying a literary adventure.

Behind her she heard the door swing open and turned to see Elizabeth Swann entering.

"I imagine they're all philosophy, if they belong to James," she said, closing the door.

"James?"

Elizabeth blushed and clarified, "I mean Commodore Norrington."

Charlie grinned. "I'll have to remember that. And shockingly, no. He also has a copy of The Adventures of Telemachus."

"Forgive me," Elizabeth started, shrugging her hands into the sleeves of the newly reclaimed naval jacket, "I don't mean to sound rude, I -."

"You're surprised I can read," Charlie guessed.

"Considering the other pirates I've met, it doesn't seem like a common ability."

Moving to take a seat at the table, Charlie laughed, "I wasn't always a pirate. I grew up in a very well-to-do family. And don't let Jack's...Jack-like ways fool you. He can read. Though I'm fairly certain the others would struggle to read anything more complex than a map."

Elizabeth smiled and sat down with her. "How did you wind up a pirate?"

In the blink of an eye she decided to go with part of the truth. "Ran away from an arranged marriage. It was luck that I ran into Jack instead of someone worse." Her past was not something she enjoyed talking about much.

The pieces visibly locked into place in Elizabeth's head. "Your surname isn't LaChance."

"No," she admitted. "How is Mr. Turner faring below decks? Or have you been permitted to visit?"

She sighed heavily. "I haven't. I've sent messages through Commodore Norrington or Lieutenant Groves, but my father won't allow me to visit."

"Does he know you're in here?" Charlie ventured.

"No," Elizabeth admitted with a smirk. "Lieutenant Groves is guarding the door, though."

"Ah. I'm sure he'll alert us should you need to run. He's a good man."

Elizabeth sighed and began toying with one of the pieces of cloth on the table. "I just needed the company of someone who wouldn't look at me as though I were the last meal of a dying man," she confessed.

That made Charlie laugh. "I imagine that at sea there's not much difference between your average sailor and your average pirate."

"At least I had some privacy on the Black Pearl," Elizabeth huffed.

"You were locked up in a cabin on the Pearl, though, weren't you?" Charlie laughed as she stood up and walked over to the window. Behind the ship she could see the small longboat trailing in the wake and in the distance there was a pod of dolphins frolicking in the water. Few clouds were in the sky, making for a mostly bright sunny day. This was why she loved the sea!

"I also wanted to say thank you for helping me at Isla de Muerta," Elizabeth said. "I heard you saved Commodore Norrington's life, so you were right to stay aboard."

Charlie turned back around with a slight smile. "It would've been a great loss to the Royal Navy. I never would've thought I would say this about someone in the navy, but he's a good man."

"Not even in your old life?" she prompted.

"I'm afraid none of the men I knew in that life were anything like Commodore Norrington," she confessed. "The man I was going to be engaged to was…. You got lucky, Elizabeth." After a deep breath, she changed the subject. "Does your father know now?" There was no way she was ready to talk about that, even if it was nearly half her lifetime ago.

Elizabeth worked her jaw for a moment, then seemingly decided to drop whatever she had been thinking. "Yes. He's...I suspect he's trying to figure out how he feels about me being in love with a pirate."

Charlie nodded. "He'll come around. Your father loves you. And I believe he does understand why young Will did what he did."

The door swung open and Groves poked his head in. "Miss Swann, your -."

The Governor's voice sounded on the deck, shouting for Commodore Norrington, and he pushed into the room. "You!" he accused Groves. "How could you let her in here with that...pirate?"

"I saved your life!" Charlie exclaimed.

Simultaneously Elizabeth interjected, "He didn't let me anything, I made the choice myself!"

That was the moment Commodore Norrington chose to enter. "What on Earth is going on here?"

"Your Lieutenant allowed my daughter to -."

"He didn't allow me anything, I -."

Elizabeth and her father argued, speaking over top of one another. Norrington's eyes darted between them as he took in the situation. "Governor Swann, if you need a moment alone with your daughter I would be happy to take Miss LaChance out on the deck." He turned to look at Groves, "Lieutenant Groves, you are relieved of guard duty for the rest of our journey. Please assist Mr Gillette on the quarterdeck."

"Sir," Groves acknowledged, with a bow of his head. He tossed a wink at Charlie as he left.

Norrington offered Charlie his arm and took her out onto the deck, leaving Elizabeth and her father to talk.