20 chapters!!! Woohoo!!! Drinks all around! Chapter Twenty and Good Boy Records present: Chapter Twenty!  

Eldae: I am American enough to allow you your own opinion, but some of these other reviewers (AKA rabid Orlando Bloom fans) may not be so kind! When I first began writing this I didn't really mean to make Elizabeth come off like that, but she just kinda did. I thought that's the way she was acting in the movie, so I guess it just flowed that way, for me. But I'm glad you like my fic. I would also like to say that I am not responsible for any cyber violence towards you of any kind. :0) 

I'm dedicating Chapter 19: Lost to the Wind to InBloom, who realized that this is in fact a pre-PotC fanfic.

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Chapter Twenty

Setting Sun

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                William Turner stood rather miserably once again on the steps of the governor's mansion. He was getting a little sick of the sprawling, elegant household, with maids waiting on every hand and foot. Elizabeth couldn't even dress herself without help, and things like that Will found hard to understand. He found himself once again being greeted by the butler and being led into the parlor, where the governor was sitting. His white wig was balanced on top of his head, and for a moment Will wondered what would happen if he tapped one side of it and it fell off.

               "Mr. Turner, Captain Norrington is very impressed with your work," said the governor, sipping tea from a delicate cup. "We have also just received the wonderful news that he is being promoted to the position of Commodore."

               "That's wonderful," said Will.

               "We are in need, however, of a ceremonial sword for him to use at his promotion, and I can think of no other man who can craft swords as you do."

               "Thank you, Governor Swann."

               "I also have your pay from the Commodore Norrington," said the governor, obviously delighted at the captain's promotion. He reached into his pocket and handed Will an envelope that contained some coins. Will nodded and put the envelope into the pocket of his waistcoat as the governor rose and led him to the door. "Make it your best work, boy," he said, patting him on the shoulder. The butler opened the door and Will found himself standing on the front step, blinded by the sunshine for a moment. The door closed softly behind him as he finally got a grip on his vision and hurried down the long, curving driveway.

               Serenity was gone. He had avoided thinking about it until that moment. Will hadn't exactly come to terms with how much the innkeepers daughter meant to him but now what he had denied was staring him in the face. She was gone, someone who Will had always taken for granted. When Elizabeth let me down, Serenity was there for me, thought Will. But then I just went back to Elizabeth, again and again…I don't deserve Serenity, he thought sullenly. I don't deserve Elizabeth either.

~*~

               I don't deserve anyone, thought Serenity, sitting absentmindedly in the study of Lady Chastity's house. She was twirling her plain but beautiful engagement ring around her ring finger. I don't deserve Connor mostly because I don't deserve Will, but I won't let him go. Maybe Connor will let us move. We'll go far away, maybe to Ireland, and live there, so I can get away…but how can I tell Connor that I need to leave because I'm in love with someone else at the same time that I'm married to him?

               I love Connor, said a calm voice in the back of her head. I can't have it any other way. Connor loves me. I cannot let him down. She dropped her hands into her lap and her gaze returned to the studying children. She would be returning home in a few minutes but she wanted to make sure that they finished their work first. Finally when they closed their books she bid them goodbye and received her pay at the door. She held the envelope in her hand as she asked Lady Chastity if she could back out of her position, because married women don't work. Chastity nodded and told Serenity that the children would miss her.

               Serenity felt the weight of the coins in her hand as she walked back down the street. I earned this, she thought. This is the last thing that I'll ever earn by myself in my entire life. I'm giving up my very being to become a part of someone else, she mused, to become a part of Connor.

               Daniel was lounging about in front of the inn again, sitting on the steps, and smoking his pipe. He blew out a ring of smoke as Serenity passed. She tried not to gag on the vile odor of the smoke that brought dust to her lungs. "So you're gettin' hitched, aye?" he drawled.

               "Please don't be rude, Daniel," said Serenity softly.

               "Why not stay with me?" he said, craning his neck backwards to look at her. He leaned his head back on the step above him, so that his forehead was right next to her right shoe.

               "I wouldn't appreciate it if you were drunk at my wedding," she said, stepping away from him. He only grinned, the pipe drooping from his lips as she went inside.

               "I wouldn't have to be at your wedding if I could find out when me damned ship's comin' back!" he yelled.

               Serenity's mother looked up as she came inside. "Is that Daniel?" she asked.

               "Drunk. Again," Serenity answered. Mother shook her head but was unable to keep the smile off of her face. She was more excited about Serenity's wedding that Serenity was.  "Where is Connor?"

               "You know," said Mother thoughtfully, "I don't know. Do you think he would prefer"-

               "Mother, I really don't want to think about wedding plans right now," said Serenity in a rush. "I just…need a moment." She walked out the back way so that she wouldn't have to see Daniel again and wandered down the street for a few moments, thinking of where she could go. I can't go to the beach, she thought. I want to go somewhere that doesn't remind me of Will or of Connor…I need to be alone with myself… alone with myself for the last time.

               She hurried past the blacksmith's workshop, not daring to look inside. Serenity knew, however, that Will would be practicing with his swordsmanship. He would practice for hours at a time, alone in the forge. She didn't like to think of how lonely he was, it was just another way that she was letting him down. I miss my old life, she realized. I would give anything to go back to last summer, when everything was wonderful and happy. When did it all go wrong?

               When Daniel came, everything changed. He put my life so far off track that I couldn't go back, and then Connor showed up, and Will grew even more smitten with Elizabeth as I grew more in love with him every day. Then Connor started taking notice of me and we started courting and we fell in love- such a different kind of love from the love I shared with Will, though. My love for Connor is passionate and beautiful but so is my love for Will…and I've loved him for so long. This will take time to get over.

               I'm doing the right thing by marrying Connor, Serenity told herself. Even if Will and I were to start courting or something, I would always know that he loved Elizabeth more, even if he denied it I would know, she thought sadly. Things could never be right between us as long as Elizabeth stood in the way.

               I guess that means that things will never be right.

~*~

               Damned ship. As soon as me ship comes in I can get my revenge and then get out of this hellhole! Daniel thought angrily, still sitting on the steps of the inn. That blasted Turner's going to pay. Right picture of his father, he is. It's not doing him any favors. That shot's for him and I'll die killing him if I have to! Daniel's mind wandered up the stairs into his room, where his blasted pistol with the one shot inside sat. That bullet's for you, Turner. It looks like we'll both be doin' something for our father's soon…I'll be killing the son of his killer and you'll be dying for it. He laughed and took another drag on his pipe. The smoke curled around his head, shading his face from the glow of the setting sun.

               I've still got some of that life in me, thought Daniel. That day is going to be a day to remember.

~*~

               The object of Daniel's anger was practicing his swordsmanship inside the smithy, as Serenity had thought. He had been practicing for two and a half hours and was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. This was the hardest workout that Will had ever forced himself through, and he was exhausted but it was worth it. I need some kind of outlet for all this feeling, he thought as he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it onto the floor. He had drawn the shades over the windows, firstly so that no one could see inside and secondly because he didn't want to be distracted. Sword fighting was the only way he had to release his anger. The sword sparkled slightly in the candlelight as it sliced through the air, failing to remove all of Will's confusion but helping a bit. This must be the only time that the swords haven't calmed me down, he thought, frustrated. Angrily he tossed the sword into its sheath and threw that onto the floor next to his other swords. He had finished the order of swords that Norrington had ordered for the recruits and he had begun carefully constructing on for his promotion ceremony. It lay in pieces on his worktable, waiting to be pounded into shape. Seeking another release, Will put his shirt back on and his blacksmith's vest on top of it, and began pounding all his anger away into the steel.