Chapter 18

(ELIZABETH'S POV)

Elizabeth had believed that the Caribbean heat in summer was the worst she could have experienced in the world. However, at that moment, she could admit that it was even worse where they were staying: The city of Natal was like pure hell, even if it had been a blessing and a good change for her. Despite the fact that she didn't understand the language (as she only knew how to speak hers and French), people had been relatively nice to her, despite the fact that she had entered the place with her foreign crew, wearing something that would be considered inappropriate. She couldn't complain too much, though. They had helped a lot so that they could sell the loot they had obtained from that French ship.

Once that had been done, she had gone together with the Chinese girl to find a place to sleep in a bed and had been lucky to find, in the city, a good tavern where the owner knew a little English. And that was where she was at that moment, pacing.

Although she was used to not being at sea and wasn't entirely looking forward to leaving the place, Elizabeth hated waiting. She knew they were staying because Tai Huang was trying to decide the best way to deal with the problem in Singapore and she had taken some precautions because there were things that couldn't be avoided: They knew more about Sao Feng's business, they knew about the enemy, and, on top of that, she was pregnant, which was in itself a danger to the crew and herself.

In any case, she was impatient and couldn't help pacing the room. She paused a bit when her stomach turned and Jìng Yì handed her a cup of tea, silently.

If she was honest, Elizabeth had been somewhat afraid in having another woman, as the crew was still a little suspicious of her presence, but Jìng Yì had been looking in Martinique for some protection, since a man had been harassing her for months and Elizabeth was glad she had admitted her. In any case, nothing had gone wrong and, with her condition at that moment as it was, she was grateful to have her, even if she was just for comfort and for the tea.

"I'm going to die waiting here." she mentioned, writhing her hands.

Not like she hadn't gone with her crew to rob around the area a week ago, but she wasn't referring to that and she was more worried about her future.

As Tai Huang had told her, the danger Liu presented in Singapore was bad enough that they would have to wait. However, as she had found, her condition at that time could perhaps be a problem when they would end Liu's threat in the territory and that was her biggest problem: She was a pirate, but she was pregnant and she wasn't going to endanger the life of someone innocent that was growing in her belly. That was why even before knowing about her condition for sure, she had written a letter to Jack just in case, hoping that something could be done: Maybe she could establish her power in Singapore sooner if she had his help or maybe this one would think of something, like he always did.

She almost hated using him, but then she remembered that he had used her on other occasions, even if his intentions had never been extremely harmful… Except with Jones' chest, but she supposed that he had paid for that with his death and she still felt somewhat traitorous about that action.

"Evewythin be alrigh', Beth." Jìng Yì said, patting her shoulder, comforting her.

The poor woman could hardly speak the language well, even though she had learned quite a bit in those three and a half months, but Elizabeth smiled. She had also learned some Chinese from her crew in that time and she knew how difficult it was.

"Xièxiè, Jìng Yì."

The first two weeks of pregnancy had been the hardest for her since, throughout the trip from Tortuga to Natal, she had thrown up a few times and had hardly been able to eat anything that wan't going to end out. When they had arrived in Natal, the first thing Elizabeth had done was to find a way to send a letter to Jack and then, with her new friend, she had looked for a midwife or a doctor that she could understand and had confirmed her suspicions.

Since she hadn't wanted to tell her entire crew, but hadn't wanted to keep it a secret either, she had in the end confessed it to Tai Huang and, even though he hadn't judged or looked at her in a bad way, she had still felt like he had.

She touched her belly, rubbing it carefully, and sighed a little when, suddenly, someone knocked on the door. It was strange that someone would bother them at that time, because it was still early, but she told Jìng Yì to open it and saw that it was the owner of the tavern with a letter.

"I have a letter for you, Mrs. Turner." he said, staring at her more than necessary.

She rolled her eyes a bit, but nodded to her friend so she would take it "Thank you." she said simply and looked up to her friend, who closed the door in a second, understanding her.

Once she had taken care of that, she got up from the bed and took the letter between her fingers. She let out a sigh of relief.

"It's from Jack." she informed when she opened it, recognizing his writing.

Port Royal, Jamaica. Starlight Row. Norrington Residence.

From James Norrington, to Beth Turner

Dear Elizabeth,

We are delighted to hear from you, although James is concerned about your condition, so to speak.

As you can imagine, I would have no qualms about helping you with your little problem in Singapore, but it could be a bit late for that and you would have to deal with just another problem, currently growing in your stomach, it would seem.

Since I still owe you one and, let's be honest, you're more of a pirate than your not-so-dead husband, I'll give you what you want: Some power. As it is, you would rather owe me one, because it's my own position and it's not like I am giving it without expecting something; I need your word that you'll protect me in case I return to my 'profession', as James likes to call it (Surprise!).

In any case, I've included a hammered coin in this letter. It's not my new piece of eight, but it's a symbol of mine to give you my title. It'll work for you to enter and tell Teague until I can give it to you in person.

Be careful and get to Shipwreck Island as soon as possible,

Jack.

P.S.: I had to write this in a good way, with Jamey all the time looking over my shoulder. He can be a pain in the neck sometimes…

P.S.S.: We can meet when I give you your new piece in Shipwreck Cove. But thanks for the information, Liz.

Elizabeth shook her head, fondly "Jack can be so… I don't even know the correct word." she sighed and looked to the address again "Knowing him, he probably stays in taverns or in his new ship… Though I'm surprised that he's working legally. I wonder what that's about… I'm almost afraid of his reasons."

She sat back on the bed and held the hammered coin in her hands thoughtfully. It was a good deal, a good way to fix her problem, and the Caribbean had been her home for a very long time. And, in any case, she knew that she didn't have much of a choice; she could keep her titles, her new profession, and stay in her usual home, even if her initial idea had been completely different.

'What if this has been done by Calypso?' she asked herself for a second.

It was strange, because the goddess had said that she would only have one punishment and that was her loyalty to Will… But, what if it was a way to make it difficult for her? What if it was part of the punishment?

She shook her head, not wanting to think about it anymore. Whatever it was, she didn't have to waste it. She was thankful that Jack had been generous and decided that, although she felt a little bad about abandoning her crew, Tai Huang would do well in Singapore, as she already knew, and it was the logical choice… What technically would have happened if she hadn't been to the Empress.

She supposed that she had to talk to him and find a way to get to the Shipwreck Island somehow, so she sent Jìng Yì to look for a ship that could bring them closer to the place, commanding her to look for pirates and to be careful, and she left to speak to her first mate, fixing her hair in a bun.

Luckily, she found him at the tavern he used to go to in the mornings and went to greet him, with a small, if somewhat, sad smile. Tai Huang saw her coming and straightened in his chair.

It was rare to find him alone, since apparently that was the place where an informant usually would find him to talk about Singapore and their problem, but she imagined that either he had already spoken to him or he was late.

"Captain." he mentioned, greeting her with a little bow "You seem… happy and sad. Please tell me that it's just women stuff."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow slightly but smiled, finding the comment funny "It's more than that, but I think you'll be glad, although I can't say how much."

This one seemed surprised "And why is that, captain?"

She pulled out a letter and looked at him "Do you remember that I told you I wrote to our infamous Captain Jack Sparrow?" She hadn't been able to help but joke about his title, even in the distance, and he nodded, finding it funny "Well, he answered back."

Then she let him see the letter, though she had broken the beginning of it, where James's address was exposed. She didn't want anyone to know about it, no matter how much she trusted them.

"It seems like a good way to solve problems… Although I'll admit that I will miss your presence." he said, nodding when he finished, returning the paper.

"I'm glad to hear that." she smiled.

"I hope we can count on your help in the future, in any case?" he asked.

"Of course, Tai Huang." she answered immediately and took off the necklace that had an anchor as decoration; the 'piece of eight' she had bought for her when they had gone back to Shipwreck Island after the fight. She put it in his hands "This is now yours, Tai Huang. Thank you for everything and please, be careful."

"I wish you the same, captain Swann." he bowed his head, grateful.

She huffed a little, since the Empress would now belong to Tai Huang, but she let it pass. She decided it was time to see if Jìng Yì had found a means of transportation, however Tai Huang stopped her and asked her to wait for him.

Elizabeth frowned at that, but she stayed on the table and waited for him to return. When he appeared again, he was carrying several small bags with what she imagined were coins. She looked at him in surprise. He shook his head.

"You helped us with our last deeds and this would be your part. Take them, you'll need them."

"Thank you." she nodded and bowed a bit.

And with that, she finally left the place to look for her friend who, after half an hour, she was able to find. She seemed delighted, but she seemed unable to tell her what she wanted without resorting to Chinese, which Elizabeth found difficult to understand so quickly. In the end, she was able to understand that she had found a good ship to take them and that whoever was in charge of that ship wanted to meet her so that she would also pay.

Together, they went to the docks and Jìng Yì guided her to a small sloop, which didn't attract much attention from anyone and which seemed quite stable for the next trip they would make.

"Ah, I see that you're back, Chinese girl. And with your friend, I suppose." Elizabeth heard behind their backs. She turned and recognized the person immediately. The other also seemed to recognize her "The Swann girl?"

Elizabeth sighed a bit "Please, just Elizabeth." she stated and smiled vaguely "I'm glad to see you again, Ana María."

This one huffed "I would like to say the same, but you, your fiancé and Sparrow always manage to bring troubles to everyone else." She put her hands on her hips "By the way, where are they?"

"... Jack is in the Caribbean." she answered, deciding to tell just part of the truth "As for Will… That's a long story. But I'm sure I'll have time to tell you on the trip, if you're still up for it."

Ana María sighed at that, but nodded "Yes, of course, if you can afford it, I can take you. I don't promise how good it will be, though. It's storm season around here during this time."

"Don't worry." Elizabeth smiled, giving her the money "Jìng Yì and I are able to help in a ship without problems."

"Perfect, that's alright." she seemed relieved when she took it "Well, we leave at noon, so don't be late."

Both nodded and glanced at the sloop.

Elizabeth sighed, knowing that she would have to go to the Empress to get all her things, including the strange shell they had found when they had seen the Black Pearl being attacked. It wasn't much, of course, but she felt strangely sad, staying behind and choosing herself… But, wasn't that what it meant to be a pirate?

It wasn't important anyway, as she had already made up her mind and hopefully the trip would go well. So, even though she wasn't a believer with Calypso around, Elizabeth prayed that they would reach their destination safely.

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&&& Merry Christmas!

I've decided to catch up to my Spanish version so I can still try to write the ending better: It's kind of resisting me; I know some of the things I want to do, but I won't lie that some feedback might help me a little hhehehe

I also blame the fact that I went back to the HP fandom because of the last trailer XD -the only thing that didn't convince me was the clothes they gave Grindelwald (I mean, seriously, he's someone who is vain and wants to call attention hahahha).

That said... Mhm... Surprise? ^^" Three more chapters for you and I know some of you expected something different, but the narrative needed to go in this direction for many reasons... It helps with the sequels I have in my head, so let's cross our fingers.

Hope you liked it anyway! And I'll try to catch up to the Spanish version around the New Year, so that way I'll be able to publish the same chapters, so just in case, Happy New Year in advancement and I'll see you next time! Lots of love and thanks for sticking by! &&&