Chapter 11

As he had imagined, getting out of Port Royal was definitely more difficult than getting in, and he had to wait a few hours before he was able to reach his boat and, quietly, he began to row back to the ship. He didn't know how paranoid he had become until he got to it and saw with his own eyes that it was still there. Even though Gibbs hadn't betrayed him yet, he could admit that his trust in others was almost nil. He trusted them to be pirates, to steal, to cheat, to lie… But never to keep their word.

Once he climbed up and put the boat away with the rest, he noticed that most of the crew were back to work almost instantly, not counting Gibbs and James, who were looking at him, somewhat expectantly.

"Well?" Gibbs asked "Did ye find what ye were lookin' for?"

"Aye, and a few things for Elizabeth if we ever cross paths with her." Jack smirked "Now, if ye excuse me, I need to create a letter that has to be dry when the sun comes up."

"We'll be very lucky if this works." James shook his head.

Gibbs couldn't help but agree.

It took almost all the night (and part of the early morning) before James and Jack were ready. James had been a little better because Elizabeth had taken care of him during his stay on Shipwreck Island, so he had little to do. Jack, on the other hand, came out of the cabin so different that everyone froze, shocked. He had changed not only his clothes, but also removed the kohl under his eyes and all of his hair was neatly arranged in a ponytail. He didn't look anything like himself.

James couldn't avoid raising his eyebrows and Jack winked at him a bit "Well, let's go, James." he said happily and only turned a bit "Gibbs, you're in charge of the ship while I'm gone and I don't have to tell you to be careful this time."

"... Of course, captain." he nodded.

"To the rest, if there is even an attempted mutiny, I'll be sure to send ye as a gift to my dear and precious friend of the Flyin' Dutchman, savvy?" All of them nodded, scared "Perfect, we're leavin'."

Together, they went to the boat Jack had used last night with some provisions, and rowed to Port Royal. By that time, it was daylight; there were more people around the docks and, since it had happened the first time that Jack had entered the place when he hadn't had the Pearl, everyone turned to look at them. Jack had to admit it, though. They had to be quite a show on a boat.

Just as they arrived to moored it, Jack groaned when he saw the harbormaster approaching.

'Bugger, I had forgotten this part.' he grimaced.

"You two, it's a shilling to tie it up. And I need a name." the man told them.

Jack pursed his lips and looked briefly at James. This one deadpanned.

"Weren't you the captain?" James whispered to him.

"Do you want me to lie or do you want me to tell him MY name?" the other replied as he tied up the boat.

"Fine, but give me a shilling. You're paying." he told him.

As Jack searched his pockets for a coin, James tried not to think too much about how Jack had changed his way of speaking to do so properly. He had been somewhat surprised, but he had tried to keep it to himself. Just then, Jack put a coin in his hand and James gave it to the other man.

"James Norrington." he replied.

This one frowned "... Norrington? As in the admiral?" This one nodded once "I thought you had died."

"It's a long story. I would prefer to talk with the governor as soon as possible, will he be in his office?"

"Yes, sir. Take the first street on the right and it is the first office."

"Thank you." he nodded his head to the man and turned to Jack "Are you coming?"

Jack smiled a bit and bowed a little "After you, mister Norrington."

James led the way through the streets of Port Royal and seemed to breathe deeply as he saw how little the place had changed in that time. He smiled a little and turned to Jack, who was just a little behind him.

"Do you have that letter with you? Because I believe it would be better that I would have it." he stated.

Jack nodded once as he reached into his pockets and handed him the paper, also pulling out one of the late governor's letters so he could compare them. James had to admit that he had done an incredible job.

"Let's keep that letter well hidden." he advised and Jack agreed "Do you think that it will work?"

"I have an escape plan in motion in case it doesn't." he replied.

James grimaced at that "Let's hope that it will."

"For our own good, I hope so." Jack answered.

James wanted to reply to that, but remembered that it was not he who had much to lose... He was considered dead and could go somewhere else and try a new life in a town working around there... Jack didn't have that, with the pirate mark on his wrist, which was at that moment hidden under a wristband.

All of that was ironic, if he really thought about it. They had been enemies: Jack, intentionally or not, had destroyed his career... James, in return, had stolen his only way of negotiating his life with Jones by stealing the heart of this one. And here they were: Trusting each other, to some extent, with their own lives; James with his position, Jack with his job. It was obvious that they were both very desperate.

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They got to the governor's office pretty quickly. This one, despite the wig, looked quite young, but that was to be expected, as he was probably new.

James shared a look with Jack and, nodding, they both headed for the entrance. There were two soldiers at the door, but even when they went into action to protect the door, they seemed to be more afraid of James' piercing eyes.

Standing proud, James stated "I'm here to see the governor of Port Royal."

"And who seeks audience with him?" one of the soldiers replied, gathering the courage for it.

James slightly raised an eyebrow, but kept his stance "James Norrington. I have some business to discuss with him, important ones."

Both soldiers shared a look, but seemed to come to an agreement.

"Very well, sir. Wait here."

Before that, they had both agreed in the end that it was better for Jack to stay out if they were going to win a pardon for him later…

The guards were quite quick and motioned for James to enter the office.

The scene that welcomed him was that of the governor finishing signing some letters before getting up. The man was almost as tall as himself and couldn't be more than fifty. He seemed to be kind, but also strict and, despite looking calm, he didn't exactly seem overjoyed to see him.

James took everything stoically "I imagine you are the governor of Port Royal?"

"Correct, mister Norrington. I'm the new governor, Edward Trelawny." he said in a serious tone and emphasizing the 'mister' more than necessary. James tried not to frown at that "And I truly hope that said business that the lieutenants have said that you had are really important, as the only thing I should greet you with is a demotion and a court martial."

"... That's one of the things I wanted to comment on, but I figured it was better to give this as proof." James took the prepared letter out of his own pocket and leaned just a little closer to offer it to the man, who took it, suspiciously, and opened it "As the letter mentions, the late Governor Swann sent this to me trusting that when I would find his daughter, I would act according to his wishes and send her to him. As such, I had, unfortunately, no choice but to obey his orders."

The governor read the letter, his eyes examining it carefully and nodded "I would have to check that the letter has not been forged, but from what I can see, the signature is obviously the same and has the same peculiarities." he nodded to himself "And, according to this, the late Governor Swann didn't want you to tell anyone, especially the late Lord Beckett and mister Mercer. I'm sorry to say he was right to be careful with them, but anyway… Well, mister Norrington, I will listen to you. First, tell me how you survived, and then let's hear all that about that important matter, okay? Please take a seat."

"I thank you for that." he sat carefully "I must say, sadly, that I remember little about how I survived. I know that, after helping… Elizabeth Swann, I was attacked by one of Jones's crew and wounded. I lost consciousness after that and the first thing I remember is waking up on a merchant ship ... Apparently, he hadn't been far." James paused a bit, caught up a bit in the little story he'd had to make up, no matter how much he disliked it; the governor just nodded to show that he was listening "In any case, I was in no shape at all... I had lost a lot of blood and had little chance of survival. I stayed there for maybe a month or so until they dropped me off in a town. A doctor and his wife took care of me until I was well. The next time I was in walking shape, I paid them and jumped on a ship. I managed to negotiate with the captain to take me to Tortuga and from there, another ship that was going to pass through here offered me a place."

"What a story, mister Norrington." he said, raising an eyebrow a bit "And I imagine you still have the scars from that wound?" James nodded and he tugged on his shirt a little so that the wound in his left lung could be seen. The governor grimaced when he saw it "Well, I cannot say that I envy you of your destiny and you've always been, according to numerous sources, incredibly honest and a hardworking man. I'd hate to lose a man like you, mister Norrington, and for that, I'm willing to believe you."

"Thank you, governor."

"Now, what about the other topic?" he asked "What is it?"

James looked from side to side and approached him. The governor, somewhat intrigued, did the same.

"Have you heard of Charles Vane?" James asked, in a low voice. The governor nodded "There was… I found a source that said that this one had some businesses around here."

"Businesses? Around here?" he said, surprised "Impossible! Anyone would have captured him by now, I imagine. It's probably an unreliable source."

"I'm afraid not, governor." James replied, after looking into the other's eyes.

This one was horrified and seemed angry that something like that was happening. He was obviously genuine because if he had known anything, he would have looked a little more nervous and would have been sweating.

"And why is that?" he asked, bewildered.

"Someone that I know showed me a paper he had obtained from Vane, though I didn't ask how, that was from Port Royal, seal and all. However, there wasn't a definite signature."

The governor frowned "That is a worrying thing. Not only are they treating me like an idiot, but whoever it is, is a traitor to the Crown." James nodded at that and the other raised his eyes "I imagine that this paper is with the acquainted of yours?" James nodded "And can we trust him?"

"In general." James sighed at that "We can trust his ends and, to be a man of his… profession, he is usually honest and has yet to do a terrible crime."

The governor hummed at that "So he's not a murderer or a rapist, eh?" He laughed a bit "And what he wants to win, in exchange for his supposedly help?"

James fumbled with his feet a bit "... He wants a pardon."

"A pardon?" He raised his eyebrows and then his eyes lightened up "Oh, he's that type of man… Well, he must be a strange man if he doesn't do the usual crimes." James almost laughed at that, but he mostly agreed. The governor seemed to nod to himself "Very well. If this… man and you figure out who is the person that is betraying the Crown and my trust, then I'll do everything that I can to give to you a good position and a pardon to your acquaintance."

"Thank you very much, governor. I won't fail you on this. And, of course, I would prefer that this matter would be kept as a secret for everyone… For obvious reasons, I mean." James told him, raising from the chair and accepting the hand of the other.

"I understand, mister Norrington. Thank you for being honest with me and telling me this, although I will want to see that letter with my own eyes as well." He grabbed his hand "You're welcome to my home until yours is restored and obviously you must come to our party of captain Coleman, who is retiring from duty."

"I gladly accept both, thank you, Governor.." James smiled at that and the governor returned it "I should meet first with the… about our matter with my acquaintance, but I'll be back."

"Don't worry, mister Norrington. And, if I can ask, who is the man that is willing to help us on this matter?"

James seemed to doubt for a few seconds, but the governor didn't seem that he was going to judge and that was something he had to know. He hoped that trusting in him a bit was the right way for the other man.

"... Captain Jack Sparrow."

If Jack had been there to hear James saying his title, he surely would have smiled, happily.

The governor looked up and his eyes seemed to pop out "Oh, I've heard of him, yes. Not the typical usual pirate in any sense, right?" James nodded once at that, despite everything. The governor seemed thoughtful "Well, if the man is as good a sailor as everyone says, I'd rather have him on my side than against me. If he can do this business with you and abide by the law while and after this, I have no qualms about getting him a pardon."

James nodded at that "Thank you again, governor. I'll see you later in the afternoon here?" This one nodded "Good. Thank you again and… Good day."

"Good day, mister Norrington."

When James left the office, he saw that Jack was against the balustrade of the building, looking out to the sea at the left. Despite the obvious tension on his shoulders, he seemed somewhat free. The two guards, on the other hand, were only guarding the door, but were alert in any case.

James decided to approach him slowly and this one turned a bit to look at him.

"I imagine that we don't have to run and disappear quickly, eh?" Jack asked.

"No, he has decided to take my word seriously." the other affirmed and sighed "I decided to test the waters before telling about the other letter."

Jack looked surprised at that and grimaced. "So you told him." James rolled his eyes but nodded "And can we be sure that he isn't lying?"

"I'm quite sure, Sp…" James interrupted himself, since calling him by his surname would call the attention too much and without a pardon that had yet to be gained, he was still a fugitive. However, calling him Jack was too informal, when they were trying to give the impression of only be acquaintances. James shook his head "He was extremely surprised for that and enraged. That's not something that can be faked."

Jack seemed to think about it, hesitantly "... I suppose that not, but we will see, won't we?" he stretched "Well, I at least should go back to my ship. Are you coming?"

"The governor has been kind enough to invite me to his home." he replied "I'll speak with him to give you a temporary pardon so we can investigate this appropriately."

"So lucky." he muttered and then he changed his tone quickly "Well, if you convince him, you already know where the ship is. I have to redecorate it in the meantime."

James nodded to that and after a few shared glances, Jack turned and left the scene without a word. James was almost certain that something was not quite right with the other, as he had started to act strange the moment he had left the governor's office, but he couldn't exactly begin to know what was wrong with him.

Was he reconsidering or was he simply not trusting him or the governor?

Despite feeling a bit hurt, since he had done nothing wrong to this one, he hoped it was the latter option.

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&&&A.N.: Next time you'll have Elizabeth's POV ^^

What do you think about the governor? Is he planning or hiding something? And who'll be the one guilty of writing that letter to Vane?

Reading the comments, I feel like I'm going to disappoint some people, as it won't go maybe as they imagined it... But it'll totally be Calypso's fault, I swear! XD I just hope that people will keep reading the story; there are a lot of twists that I think mostly everyone will enjoy and I had to be careful to try to weave everything and follow most of what we have seen on the canon movies: Even when I take my own twists and they are indepent stories, I did want to use most of the elements and characters that are in the sequels :) I really hope it'll turn alright hahahah

This time I didn't have time to answer, but I deeply want to thank Kat_the_katt and Cynical_Kay for their comments ^^ You really make my day better!

Until next time and don't forget to stay safe :) &&&