Well, we finally get to hear about Will's feelings more on this one (as if we haven't been hearing about them already!), but now there is a bit of a plot thrown in... I think this may resemble a plot from Great Expectations, but it was completely unintentional and I am making this a sort of disclaimer in case anyone comes to sue me (although I doubt they will.)

Disclaimer: I like to play pretend, but I don't pretend with ownership.

Ms. Smith was actually a very caring old woman, who took great care of me almost the way my own mother might have. She was a widow; her husband had died ten years into the marriage, and she never got the chance to have children. She called me Will and taught me all about being a proper young gentleman in society, something I had never gotten the opportunity to learn before. Ms. Smith also enrolled me in the local public school in Port Royal, in addition to getting me an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's shop.

You must remember, that when I was nine years old the blacksmith, Mr. Gruber, was not drunk nor lazy, and he had no apprentice. If the opposite had applied to any of the former, I am quite certain Ms. Smith would never have let me set foot into his shop. No, Mr. Gruber was a good teacher for the first five years, teaching me the basics of sword making, letting me set my own guidelines and do the rest. It became a true love for me very quickly, and I spent much of my time after school in the blacksmith shop or at the back of Ms. Smith's home, practicing arm movements to strengthen my muscles.

Meanwhile, I continually mourned the loss of Captain Sir. Ms. Smith was good to me, however, she was a widowed woman, and there was no longer a man around. I was lucky; Captain Sir had explained all things about manhood rather well to me, perhaps in his eagerness for a son, but I was grateful nonetheless. He had even taught me the way to shave a beard the way he shaved his, and I always told myself I would do it in that precise way (as I knew no other), though there was no need till I was fifteen. The most terrible thing was, I had lost all trace of my former life before my arrival in Port Royal. I no longer had the memento by which I remembered my last day with my mother and would continually speculate about my father with. The board of wood from the brig Captain Sir had commanded me to stay in had been taken from me, I suspected. Hence I was left with a life to start anew with, a life that was founded and based in Port Royal.

It made me hurt inside, at first. It made me cold and vulnerable and angry. Everyone I had ever cared about had been taken away from me: my mother, my father, and Captain Sir. Many a night I awoke with terrible nightmares, and Ms. Smith was always there with gentle words and a kind heart. They cured my wounds temporarily, but I made a promise to myself every time I thought of my father, or Captain Sir. Pirates, that's what had done this to them. Pirates. Pirates had scared my father away from staying too long in one place, it had been a pirate who had killed and raped my mother, and pirates were what had killed Captain Sir. Pirates. I promised and took an oath (I might have done it in blood, if I had had the chance) that if I were to ever cross paths with a pirate, I would be prepared. I would fight them till the death, whether it be on my part, or, preferrably, theirs. I would forget Captain Sir and my parents and move on with my life.

But I never forgot. No matter how many times I told myself to forget, to move on, to stop crying and just get over it, and that Ms. Smith had become like a mother to me, I could not. I continually abused myself for losing the medallion, and always thought about telling Ms. Smith what my mother had told me about my father. I imagined scenes (which would never in my life come true) where she would kindly tell me that he was dead, it had happened years ago, or a happier scenario, where she would tell me she knew exactly who I was talking of and lead me to him. I pictured the Governer coming to our house to say that Ms. Smith would have to come visit me, almost like the grandmother I never had (I even took to calling her grandmother after a while), because I would have to go live with my father. That visit would be different from the other visits the Governer made.

And the Governer did keep his word. He came every so often, checking on me to see how I was doing, what condition I was in. He was being terribly responsible. But he never brought Elizabeth with him.

I would see her on more than often occasion, fluttering through town in beautiful dresses and looking just like the angel she was. She would be either playing in her yard, an area that was en route to the blacksmith shop so that I was allowed to secretly watch her. It wasn't remotely like a stalker, I would just pause for a minute to see her run around her yard, chasing a fat old goose. She appeared to be somewhat lonely, pausing every now and then from her running to look around to see if there was any point to chasing a goose about her yard, but resumed her games rather quickly. She was so young and carefree, and what I was feeling hardly struck me as anything then: I was simply mesmerized by her existence. I would watch her every day before I made toward the blacksmith's shop. Sometimes Mr. Gruber would find me and laugh, telling me that she was far from my league, and I hardly understood the gentle let-down of his words, so I would just leave with him, my eyes still fixed upon the lovely Ms. Swann.

When I was eleven years of age, a most fanciable opportunity came my way. I remembered that the Governer did make a very different visit to our home that day, though it was not what I had originally hoped.

It was something of equal grace. If not, of course, better.

I had just awoken from my sleep in the tiny cottage, and had seen the Governer's carriage from my window. Though Ms. Smith had forbade me to do so, I crept up and listened to what they were saying through a wall.

"Yes," the Governer was saying, "it is most necessary. And at this time in a child's life, I believe..."

"I understand completely," Ms. Smith said. "It is only natural for her to desire some company."

"You think he'll be willing, then?"

"Oh, I should think he'll be more than willing. That boy is going to be a fine young man, I promise you, Governer Swann. He has the heart of an angel. Why just the other day..." She began to relay a story as I ran back to bed on eggshells, knowing that they were going to wake me. I shut my eyes tight under the covers.

A few moments later, I heard my bedroom door open, and the Governer saying, "Yes, well, it sounds like a very good idea to me."

I felt Ms. Smith's hands gently shake my shoulders. "Will, dear. Will, wake up. The Governer's here to see you."

I rubbed my eyes, feigning sleep. "Governer Swann?" I asked, raising slowly. "Hello."

He shook my hand briskly. "Hello, Will, my boy. I understand your confusion at my presence, for I have come here for the second time this month."

I nodded.

"Well, it seems I have a favor to ask of you, Will. Do you remember my daughter, Elizabeth?"

I blushed at the sound of her name, completely unaware that I was even doing it. I nodded.

"She's about your age now, quite a pretty girl, and yet... She seems very lonely at times. I was thinking... that... perhaps, you'd like to come and play with Elizabeth every few days or so. Just for her sake, I imagine you must have many friends of your own, but she is so terribly lonely. I have a feeling she would enjoy your company. Would you like that, Will?"

I managed to whisper a, "Very much, Governer," through my complete awe.

"You would?" he asked. "Fantastic. It's all settled then. Why don't you come about in three days time, eh? Come right after school."

A suddent thought struck my mind, and I looked to Ms. Smith.

She understood at once. "Governer, Will apprentices at Mr. Gruber's blacksmith shop, the one close to your house. He usually does it after school, and I'm afraid..."

"Not to worry," Governer Swann replied. "I shall inform the blacksmith at once that Will's blacksmithing studies shall be reduced to every other day and every other weekend. On the remainder of those days, Will, you will report to my house immediately after school. On the weekends, be there at twelve thirty sharp. I expect you to be punctual."

And in as a brisk manner as he had come, he bade us farewell, and left in his carriage pulled by two white horses.

"Well," Ms. Smith said, "that was a mighty shade of red you turned, there."

I blushed once more. "Please, Grandmum."

"That's what you get for eavesdropping," she said, letting me know that she had a very good idea that she had not awoken me. "Now, let's have some breakfast. And after this, we're going to the tailor."

"Why?" New clothes were a rarity, I knew.

"You can't very well go off to the Governer's home in the clothes you're wearing! You're filthy as a pig!"

"Grandmum!" I begged. "I hate going to the tailor's. All those needles and pins..." I pulled a face. "Won't you please let me wear some of my nicer clothes? I'll even wash them."

"Yourself?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Myself."

"Done deal," she replied. "I don't have enough money for new clothes anyway."

"What's for breakfast?" I asked.

"Don't ask," she said, plopping something purplish and green onto my plate, and my stomach dove in greedily, simply happy that there was food on the table.

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Ah, I see that there is a plot change! Sorry. But there will be some more of this in the next chapter... I'll get it out as fast as I can. Review if you love me, and if you hate me, all the more reason to review.