Disclaimer: Guess who's comin' through with a little disclaimer/Tune's okay, but the words are getting' lamer/Ain't no saint can legitimatize rhyming 'pride' with 'tide' with 'unionize'/See I agree we gotta boycott hell/But we oughtta boycott dumb lyrics as well . . . Wait, I don't own that either. Bummer, I don't even own my own disclaimer. I don't own the A/N either, so be forewarned.
A/N: Mother, Mother ocean/I have heard you call/I've wanted to sail upon your waters/since I was three feet tall/You've seen it all, you've seen it all/Watched the men who rode you/switch from sail to steam/In your belly you hold more treasures than few have ever seen/Most of them dream, most of them dream/Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late/The cannons don't thunder, there's nothing to plunder . . .
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Last Time:
Both Jack and Winn managed to annoy the other as they were not even in the other's presence. We met the first members of Winn's rather large family. Arriving in Port Royal.
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"Winn? Wake up Winn. It's past noon – high time you were up and about." Cat eyed the unmoving bundle of sheets and blankets that lay unresponsive on the bunk before her. Critically inspecting the mass, she thought, It looks as if someone had a rough night . . . morning . . . whatever. Tired of standing there talking to herself, Cat took action. Taking hold of Winn's covers, she ripped them off their occupant unmercifully. That got a response, not much of one, but a response none the less.
"Wanna sleep . . . g'way. I don't like you. Uhhh . . . ." Winn's face was buried in her pillow, her words sleep slurred.
"I brought you a bath . . ." Cat persuaded in a sing-song voice. Upon hearing this, Winn's head turned so that she could see out of one eye.
"A bath? A real bath? With soap and warm water that I can use to wash my entire body, even my hair?"
Cat nodded. "I thought you might want to clean up after that salt water dip you took yesterday. I know I'd want to."
Winn scratched at an arm as she sat up in her bunk. Pushing her hair out of her face (it had pretty much given up on the knot it had been in), she grimaced. "Yeah. I had almost forgotten that I'm allergic to salt water." Leaning against the wall, she pulled at the neck of her sleepshirt (a normal shirt that was borrowed from her brother) to reveal a wealth of tiny red dots covering her skin. They started at her neck and continued to her bare feet. These she presented to Cat as evidence as well. "Washing should help get rid of this."
Cat clicked her tongue in sympathy. "That looks unpleasant. Are you sure it's just a reaction to the salt water?"
"Yeah. What else could it be?"
"How about a lack of any Jack Sparrow in your life?" Cat asked innocently.
Winn's grimace turned into a full-fledged frown at the suggestion. "It's more likely to be a reaction to being in such close proximity to the man's tongue for an extended amount of time," she muttered.
"And you said nothing went on between you two. Are you sure there's nothing you want to share with me?" Cat was enjoying this far more than was necessary.
Thinking evil thoughts, Winn blushed, and cursed herself for it. "You know what I meant, Cat. Should he ever lose his whet stone, Captain Sparrow's tongue would sharpen his sword to an even better point than the stone would have. If you thought I meant anything else, then you've clearly spent too much time aboard ship with all these rough and crude men."
"Hmm . . . I don't know anyone like that. . ."
"You said something about a bath?" Winn asked, getting up and slipping on her breeches. "Could I possibly take it sometime before the wedding? Like now?"
"Fine, fine. I surrender. End of conversation. Com'on. I had the men set up your bath in our quarters. They're better equipped for such things." Cat eyed Winn's unique getup. "And while you're cleaning up, I'll see to getting some of your things out of ship's stores. You can't possibly meet your friends and your brother while dressed like that. You look thoroughly disreputable."
"I feel disreputable. I am disreputable," Winn muttered rebelliously as she followed Cat out of the room and into the brightness of the Caribbean noonday sun.
"So my little sister is aboard after all. I was beginning to think that last night was a figment of my imagination." Ryan watched as his wife and sister emerged from his cabin. While his wife was her normal beautiful self (she was beautiful in any state of appearance, really), his sister was transformed from the scraggly thing that had been pulled on deck last night.
Her hair, which was once more coiled into compliance at the nape of her neck, shone in the sun like polished ebony (which is only nearly black, not absolute black). He wasn't sure why she demanded is keeping it under such strict control – it was beautiful hair. No, I understand why she does that. It keeps her eyes from standing out as much, which was true. When her hair was loose, her distinctive eyes seemed to glow at times against the dark backdrop.
Speaking of her eyes, she had her glasses on once again. She hadn't when she had arrived. They must have been in one of her pockets. The glass of the lenses muted the shade of her eyes to an unremarkable shade of blue, a color people would forget soon after seeing it.
At least the dress she was wearing was something other than grey or chocolaty brown, the colors she normally preferred. Knowing that he might have to accommodate his siblings and their wives at any time, Ryan kept a stock of clothing in their sizes aboard ship. The dress that Cat pulled from stores was the same shade of blue as the cove outside their grandfather's house. The sleeves ended halfway down the forearm in falls of lace that had been delicately embroidered with silver. Under the hem of the gown, Ry could see that his sister had refused to give up her sea-boots.
His womenfolk reached him in a flurry of hugs. While Winn was giving her perfunctory sisterly kiss to his cheek, he asked, "Wearing your armor again Freddy?"
She fixed a polite smile on her face, and ignoring the question, she muttered, "This was all you had for me to wear?"
"What's wrong, Freddy? I thought you liked . . ."
"I like not drawing attention to myself, as you very well know my dearest brother. I like to able to hide in the shadows should the need arise to do so. The only thing I'm going to able to hide behind in this . . . this . . . confection . . . is a peacock."
Ry smiled. Turning to his wife, he asked, "Was it much of a battle to get her into those things?"
"Yes, and as you can see, neither of us won." Cat smoothed a strand of auburn hair back into place.
"Speak for yourself. I think I made plenty of concessions to your mad whim to dress me like a doll. I was the captain of a pirate ship, for goodness sake. Maybe not for very long, but that's not the point. I don't need to dress to impress nor to intimidate. If I can't do so without flashy clothes then I don't deserve to."
"Yes, but you know the rules . . ."
"You're right." Winn was braced for battle. "And the rule is you dress second best to greet Grandfather at the house, and in your best for dinner the first night that the entire clan dines together. The entire clan isn't here, and neither is Grandfather, so I fail to see how that rule applies at this point in time."
"It doesn't. I have fancier clothes for you down in the hold still." Ry smiled as he won the argument. Winn just glared at him. Seeing the look on her face, Ry wiped the smile off quickly and comically.
Still glaring, but unable to keep her lips from quirking up, Winn asked in her haughtiest voice, "How long do we have until we reach Port Royal?"
"A few hours," her brother replied. "Three at the most. Why?"
"So we should be there around five o'clock?"
"That's correct. Why?"
"Oh, I'm just wondering what lengths I need to go to in order to evade you. If you need me I shall be in my cabin." And with that she walked away, prepared to wait out the hours until the Kingfisher docked in Port Royal.
"That's it! That must be it! That has to be the ship that Winn is on! Will? Have I told you how much I've missed Winn?"
Will Turner smiled down at the woman at his side – the woman who would soon be his wife. "Yes, Elizabeth. I believe you may have mentioned it once or twice." In truth, Elizabeth had talked of only two things in the past month or so: the wedding and the arrival of the friend whom they were currently waiting for.
The inhabitants and drifters of the Port Royal waterfront wove their way around the betrothed couple as they stood looking out at the bay. Winn was supposed to have arrived several hours before, and they had kept a vigilant lookout for her ship since then. Elizabeth was nearly frantic with excitement over seeing her friend again.
Friend? No, more like a sister. Winn had moved in with Elizabeth and her family when Elizabeth was but seven and Winn was fourteen. Before that, their mothers had been great friends, which is why Winn came to live with the Swanns upon the death of her mother. When Elizabeth's mother had died a little more than a year after that, Winn had become the female role model in Elizabeth's young life, much to her father's chagrin.
Winn was headstrong and intensely shy, neither of which were found to be redeeming characteristics in young ladies of quality. Then there was the fact that she could tell the most bloodthirsty stories, which was incredibly appalling to adults, and intriguing to Elizabeth. And her knowledge of pirates? Well, that little secret had been kept from Governor Swann.
When Winn had gone to live with her grandfather upon their arrival in the Caribbean, Elizabeth had been crushed at the loss of her best friend. Looking now to Will, Elizabeth asked, "Do you remember when you first met Winn? On the Dauntless, after we rescued you? You remember how –"
"I remember that she intimidated me," Will laughed. "I was sure that she was going to skin me alive if I so much as looked at her wrong."
Elizabeth's dark brown eyes went large with surprise. "Really? You never told me that."
"Yes, well, that was before I discovered that she'd rather tell stories and teach bawdy songs than dump someone overboard. She always seemed to have another pirate story to tell."
"I know. Winn taught me everything I know about pirates, including that ridiculous code." Elizabeth smiled, lost in memory.
"What about that song you love so much? Did she teach you that as well?"
"Of course." Elizabeth's eyes focused back in on the ship that had just docked. "Look! The passengers are disembarking! Do you see her?"
Will was about to reply when a squeal from his fiancée cut him off. Elizabeth? Squealing? She's more excited than I thought.
Grabbing Will's arm in one hand and pointing with the other, Elizabeth exclaimed, "Will, look! There she is! She's finally here!"
Leveling his gaze in the direction of Elizabeth's pointing finger, Will saw a dark haired woman of short stature arguing with a taller man and woman. She looked agitated.
"Winn? Winn!" While Elizabeth wasn't the loudest woman in the world, her voice was more than sufficient to carry across open water to the figures on the ship.
The dark haired woman turned from her discussion with her companions towards the docks. She moved her head from side to side as if trying to locate where the call had come from. Elizabeth waved an arm in the air as she once again shouted, "Winn! Over here!"
Winn, standing on the deck of the Kingfisher, located who had been calling her name. "Elizabeth!" she called back. Disappearing from view for a moment before reappearing on the gangplank that connected the ship to land, Winn ran to her friend. She raced down the narrow board, skits held out of her way. As she neared the couple's position, Elizabeth screamed in delight and broke away from Will to go meet her.
The two women connected in a tangle of arms and skirts. Laughter and tears could be heard over the crowd that was commenting on their raucous behavior.
"You've grown so much, Liz," Winn laughed. "You're taller than I am now."
Elizabeth grinned. "I told you I'd be taller than you one day. I always try to keep my word. It's impolite to do otherwise. I can't believe that you're still wearing those glasses. I didn't think you'd take me seriously when I said that men didn't like women who wore spectacles."
"Yes, well, past experience has proven that you were a shrewd child. Hardly anyone spares me a second glance when I wear these."
"Care to greet another old friend?" Will came up to the two friends.
"William Turner! I swear. You've gotten taller than I ever thought you would. You were such a scrawny child." Smiling, Winn let go of Elizabeth to give Will a hug of greeting. "I'm not at all sure what Liz sees in you."
"It's my blacksmith's hands, or so I've been told."
"Will!" Elizabeth exclaimed in mock horror. Swatting him on the arm, she turned back to Winn. "I'm so glad that you're finally here. I was starting to get worried. You had written that the ship you would be arriving on would be coming in between ten o'clock and noon with good weather."
"Yes, well, there's a bit of a story behind that." Winn didn't want to recap her entire experience on the Black Pearl for the entirety of Port Royal to hear and ruminate on.
Switching the topic, Winn asked, "You remember my brother Ryan?" When Elizabeth nodded, she continued, "Then come say 'hello' and come meet his wife. You'll just adore Cat."
Winn led the couple back to the Kingfisher where the captain and his wife were disembarking. "Ryan! Come say 'hello' to Elizabeth. Catherine, let me introduce you to two good friends of mine."
Once the common courtesies were dispensed with, and the group was headed towards a carriage, Elizabeth asked Ryan, "So why were you late getting to port, Captain? Is it possible that Winn drove you mad and you forgot where you were headed?"
Ryan smiled. He had forgotten how spirited the Swann lass was. Of course, the last time he had seen her, she had been four or five years old and visiting with her mother. "Possible? Yes. Is that what happened? No. No, I arrived precisely when I meant to. It's Freddy here who managed to show up late."
Will and Elizabeth turned quizzically to their friend. "So . . . why were you late? And no avoiding the question this time."
Winn let out a loud sigh. "I hope you do realize that it is only by virtue of our long and honest friendship that I am allowing you to badger me into answering such a complicated question right here on the dock where anyone might overhear us . . ."
"Winn! Answer the question!" Elizabeth was near laughter at Winn's verbose attempt to through off her questioners. She let Will hand her up into the carriage, smiling when Winn declined any assistance.
Fussing with her skirts, Winn prepared herself for the commotion she was about to cause. Once everyone was seated, she looked Elizabeth in the eye. "I was late because I ran into a bit of an . . . inconvenience."
"What kind of inconvenience?"
"The kind named Captain Jack Sparrow."
After two or three shocked moments of silence, giggles could be heard quietly over the clopping of horse's hooves and the rattle of the carriage wheels on the cobblestones. Glaring at Elizabeth, who was holding a gloved hand over her mouth, Winn stated, "It wasn't funny, Liz. The man is totally and completely insufferable."
Still trying to hold in her mirth, Elizabeth replied, "This from the woman, who upon hearing how I was threatened by the same man, said, 'Were you hurt? If not, the experience was probably good for you.' Are you actually asking me for sympathy?"
"Oh . . . I had forgotten I actually sent that draft of that letter to you." Winn looked distracted for a moment, causing both Will and Elizabeth to break down into laughter. Even Ryan and Cat were looking amused. Collecting herself, Winn's brows snapped down with an almost audible click. Will stopped laughing, but Elizabeth, being somewhat fearless, kept laughing. "I was at least expecting sympathy from you, Liz."
"Right, sympathy. Oh, my dearest and most fragile friend! Were you injured by the rapscallion?"
Winn's lips quirked. She suspected what was coming, and was prepared to face up to it. She was the one who had broached the topic after all. Playing along, Winn replied, "No. By the grace and mercy of God, I escaped with but a pair of scratches inflicted upon my dear and most wonderful person."
"Then, my dearest Winifred, I suspect the experience was probably good for you."
"Ok, I deserved that." Winn looked out the window of the carriage. They were quickly passing through the main part of Port Royal, the road starting to wind upwards towards the more prosperous section of town. "Liz, where are we going?"
"Umm . . . Father insisted you all come to dinner at the house . . . out of respect to Mother."
"Liz! Please tell me this will at least be a family dinner?" If Winn had to sit around making polite small-talk with a bunch of people she didn't know, she'd never survive the night.
"Well, Father and Will and I will all be there . . ."
"What aren't you telling me, Liz?" Winn face was white with tension – she hated talking with strangers.
"Well . . . Ryan, Catherine, you've both been invited to dine and stay with your brother. He contacted us yesterday when he got wind of Father's plans. And while he was very polite, it was clear that we were to 'encourage' you to stay with them. We can drop you off at his house if that's what you'd rather do. And Winn, you were invited too, but I would really appreciate it if you would come to dinner at the house. We have so little time together before the wedding, and afterwards you'll be leaving again . . . ." Elizabeth looked pensive, knowing exactly what she was asking Winn to do and unsure of what her answer would be.
Winn looked at her brother and sister, then at her friend. She was torn. Avoid what was clearly to be a big deal and go to her youngest brother's house, or disappoint a friend to whom she owed a great deal.
Ryan leaned forward. "You can come with us. You know that Marcus and Grace and the children will be glad to see you." What was unspoken was the fact that Ry knew Winn would most likely end up spending the night on tattered nerves. She had never been a big people person.
"No," Winn whispered having made her decision. "I'm getting better around strangers, really, I am. And the more I meet now, the less I'll have to meet at the wedding, right? I can do this." Louder, she told Elizabeth. "I'd be glad to stay with you. We'll need to send down to the ship for my things, though. We did leave in a bit of a rush."
Elizabeth grabbed her friend's hand. "Thank you," she said feeling how cold Winn's hand was. "I'll make sure that either Will or I are with you at every moment tonight."
Winn just smiled wanly, already feeling slightly sick.
A few minutes later, the three dropped Ry and Cat off at their brother's house. Accepting well-wishes and good-byes, Winn started composing herself. You can't show up looking like some weak-willed, puling, useless female. I can do this. I can meet these people. It's for Elizabeth. Just remember you're doing this for Elizabeth. Even thinking such things, Winn was hard pressed to stop the trembling in her hands. Taking another deep breath, Winn closed her eyes, desperately trying to compose herself. She could not let her friends down.
"Is that all you've got, Winnie? Seems I overestimated you." So loud was the voice in her mind, that Winn opened her eyes and searched the cabin for the owner of the voice. Elizabeth and Will were deep in their own, private conversation like the couple they were; neither of them had spoken to her. Winn growled under her breath. It had to have been that part of her that was determined to drive her mad.
Fine. I'll do this. If only to prove that I can. That will show him.
"Here's the room I had set aside for you. I hope you like it. I know that you like being able to see the ocean from your window." Elizabeth showed Winn her room. Behind the two women, there were two maids, presumably there to help Winn get undressed for the night.
Seeing that her room faced west, and that the bay could indeed be seen from the large bay windows, Winn simply said. "It looks wonderful. I'm so tired that I could sleep on the ballroom floor at the moment."
Taking a look at Winn's strained face, Elizabeth simply nodded. "I know what you mean. Do you need any help, or should we all just leave?"
"Please, I would prefer to be alone right now. I believe that I can undress myself. If you would excuse me?"
Hugging her friend briefly, Elizabeth whispered, "Thank you for being here tonight. I know what it took. Good night."
"Good night." Winn watched as Elizabeth closed the door behind her. Taking a deep breath, trying vainly to settle her stomach, Winn ran her eyes over the room, looking for the chamber pot. Finding it, she crossed the room, and instantly cast up her accounts. So much for being able to handle a large crowd, she thought as she rinsed her mouth with water from a nearby decanter.
There were few things on earth that could make Winn lose her normal gravity. There were few things that could make her mad. Spiders, snakes, blood – she could face all of those without breaking a sweat. But there were two things that unnerved her to the point of incapacitating all rational thought - large crowds of strangers and extreme heights. And tonight had been no exception to that rule.
Some pirate I am. I'm allergic to salt water, can't stand heights, and would pass up an opportunity to plunder just because it means dealing with strangers.
There had been sixty people at dinner, not to mention the servants. Whatever happened to that 'family diner' Elizabeth mentioned? For Winn, the entire time had been spent in a cold sweat, her hands trembling as if she had a palsy. Now, with tremors raking her body to the point where she was having a hard time unbuttoning her dress, Winn wondered how she would have fared had she not had Elizabeth and/or Will at her side the entire time. Probably would have passed out after the first ten minutes.
Climbing wearily into bed, dressed in a chemise because she didn't want to bother digging through her borrowed trunk for a nightdress, Winn thought, I need to calm down before I go to sleep. I'll nave nightmares for sure if I remain this agitated. Where did my drawing pad get to? Looking around the room, she noticed it lying on her nightstand. Apparently Elizabeth had remembered how much she depended on that pad as she had directed the servants in hauling Winn's stuff up.
Reaching over, Winn picked it. There was a fresh stick of charcoal lying on the cover, along with a note: I only stocked up on five or six of these. Beyond that you're on your own – Elizabeth. Winn smiled.
Opening to a blank page, she sat there staring at it for a good five minutes. Usually, Winn saw what wanted to be drawn as she looked at the freshness of a clean paper. An image that was hidden beneath the white surface, waiting for her to unleash it. What she saw now just made her mad. No, I'll draw anything else, she begged. However the paper was silent and unrelenting. Seeing she had no choice, Winn began to reluctantly draw.
Slowly, but with increasing speed and surety, an image started to take form. Like so many of her other sketches, this was simply a pair of eyes. Losing herself in them, Winn worked quickly to finish, to expel her demons as it were.
Within fifteen minutes she was finished. She stared down into the eyes she had drawn. They were dark, mysterious, and impossible to read; the irises but a shade lighter than the pupils. They were surrounded by longish lashes and, like the eyes of many seamen, they had a sprinkling of crow's feet at the corners, lines caused by sun and wind and laughter. The brows were almost hidden by a strip of cloth, and there was a suggestion of beads at the extremity of the sketch.
Fascinated, Winn sat staring down into the eyes of a man she disliked. Ever since she had looked up into them from the deck of the Kestrel, a yearning to draw them had been at the back of her mind. She had denied it, not wanting to admit that Jack Sparrow could make her want to do anything except stay out of his way. But now there was no way that he'd ever see it, so it was safe to give into the temptation.
Why do you fascinate me so? she asked her drawing. Why can't I forget you? Why should I want to? Why do I care? Winn had no answers to these questions, and she had no desire to search for them at this time. Tired, so tired.
The stresses of the day caught up with her abruptly. Closing her sketch book, Winn set it back on the nightstand, then leaned over and blew out the small oil lamp that had been lit for her. Settling into the pillows, listening to the waves through the window she had left open and watching the moon disappear into the horizon, Winn asked one more thing before she fell asleep: What are you looking at now?
That night her dreams were full of the creaking of a ship at sea and the passing of the stars over her head.
Miles away, in Tortuga, Jack Sparrow sat in the prow of his ship, watching the stars spin by overhead and making the last plans for his departure. Soon my lady, soon. You have lesson to learn about challenging pirates, luv, and it's one you'll be learning sooner rather than later. At the thought of such a lesson, Jack started to grin.