Y'know, I heard a rumor about this bug going around. It gets to your muse, and then your muse bites your ankle, and it makes you do this strange thing called….updating? I think that's what it's called. It's where your muse keeps you from starting new stuff, even if you want to, and it makes you work on old stuff instead, or at least older than yesterday stuff. I dunno, have you heard of it?

And yes, for those of you who don't know…I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean. Shame, that.

Once again, I am in debt to my faithful reviewers, and here I thank you:

Huntress16: Thankies! And here we have it – I am updating! Yay!

Matchmakergtpie: Hey! It's great? Aww…..thanks…..

Quicksilvermad: Thank-yew! You think it's hilarious?! *blushes furiously* Fanks….

Andi Horton: My faithful reviewer! Yes…Orlando obsession is good, though the thing is that at this point, Christine doesn't even know they're an item, so even that itself should be interesting! Thank you so much!

Aiyh-Sa: Don't worry, Jack is on his way! Thanks!

Aww….you guys make me feel so special!

Enjoy, and read on!

            I thought that the ceremony for the soon-to-be Commodore Norrington looked mildly boring when I was watching the movie.

            I was wrong.

            It was completely, totally, mind-numbingly boring.

            I stifled a yawn, covered up (I hope) gracefully with my fan, which I had discovered that really was needed in the Caribbean. It's a lot warmer down there than I would have thought. Funny thing that, equators.

            As I stood there, fanning myself, Christine on my left and Elizabeth a little ahead and to the right, I tried standing on my tiptoes to see if I could properly see the harbor. I could see a little of it, but it was mostly obscured by soldiers in their stupid red coats. I couldn't even tell if Jack and his slowly sinking ship had arrived yet.

            Turning back to where the "Commodore" was walking under a row of raised guns, I sighed, which turned out to be not such a good idea, as that stressed the already precarious air situation. I don't know how these women handled this, day in and day out, really. It's ridiculous! However, once I'd recovered from the spinning feeling that tight corsets gives me, I reached a hand upwards to my hair, which had been done up in some overly curly updo that I tried to tell them would never stay up. Bloody hair – too fine to stay up; too straight to keep a curl; and too curly to stay straight. That was why my hair was currently sliding it's casual way out of the bun, making me look particularily like I had been running, working, or perhaps some other slightly more enjoyable preoccupation that would have gotten me into considerable trouble with…well….everyone I can think of at the moment.

            So I sighed again (but a little one this time – I learned my lesson) and let my hand stray back down to my side. Elizabeth seemed to be watching the ceremony closely, but I had noticed what many others had seemed not to – her eyes were glazed, and she was swaying slightly. Beside me, Christine seemed to have also noticed, and was watching Elizabeth with a rather concerned expression. "Is she gonna be alright?" she asked me in a whisper, hiding her mouth behind the way too brightly colored fan that Miss Swann had lent her.

            I tried not to betray a thing in my face. "Sure."

            "Oh, good." I don't know if she accepted my lame little attempt to reassure her or not, but she seemed to be satisfied enough to not bring it back up. Instead, she clapped heartily along with everyone else when the ceremony finally ended, and we started to wander around the courtyard with a small gaggle of other ladies while the crowd dispersed.

            I spotted Elizabeth and the commodore out of the corner of my eye, but they and their proposing was less important than the possibility that, as I realized that he had to be here by now, that I might be able to spot Jack. And so I headed for the wall, leaning against the stones and searching the harbor below.

            And there he was. Far below, standing on the deck of the Interceptor, patiently waiting for two bumbling English officers to figure themselves out, stood Captain Jack Sparrow.

            And if he was on the deck of the ship, right now, then that meant…

            "Elizabeth," I gasped, spinning towards the bell arch, only to hear someone else scream her name.

            "Elizabeth!?!"

            Oh yes, Commodore Norrington was screaming his head off over his currently hurtling object-of-his-affections, but the one doing the real yelling was my best friend, who, as I believe I have mentioned, had no idea what was going on. As I, along with the entire regiment, Governor Swann and several passers-by ran up to the edge, I felt supremely bad for Christine, who had no idea, like the crowd, that Elizabeth would be fine.

            She hit the water with a splash, and as multiple people fought over who would be the one to go get the currently drowning girl, I saw, far below, Jack shuck his coat and accessories and dive in. And that was when I heard the shouts of the surrounding people, gasps, and the horrified yell of Governor Swann.

            And as I turned my head towards the sound of the commotion, I realized that Christine had disappeared from the edge of the balcony, and that everyone was, once again, staring downwards.

            And…herald the splash.

            Aww….man…..

            She looked remarkably graceful in her descent, and dove in cleanly, but the fact that she did a good job of it did not make me feel any better. Her arms pumped in strong strokes, and she made it easily over to where Elizabeth had fallen in, where Jack himself had also arrived by now.

            And that was when it happened.

            A shock wave rippled out over the water, wind blasted at those of us on the wall, the clouds stormed and raged, and the medallion around me necked burned. I gasped, and yanked it out of my bodice by the string, glad that no one would notice me trying to recover from a sudden burn in an inconvenient place. It looked the same as it always had, but it was so hot….was it one of the real medallions, and it was reacting to the call of the other? Or was it just a shadow of the real reaction?

            Shoving the medallion back down the front of my dress, I leaned over to see Elizabeth's dress drifting on the surface of the water as Jack dragged a limp Elizabeth back to shore. Christine was a stroke behind, perhaps ready to take over if he found he couldn't carry her any longer.

            The crowd began to move, now, running down the sloping pathway to the harbor. Although it occurred to me that I was now moving closer to soon-to-be-firing guns, I had some very specific reasons for running, full-tilt, skirt hiked up, along with the crowd:

1) To get close to Jack Sparrow.

2) To make sure Christine was alright.

3) To get close to Jack Sparrow.

4) To make sure that Elizabeth was alright, even though I knew she would be.

5) …..yeah, well, to get close to Captain Jack Sparrow.

Yes, I'm single-minded and lame. Oh well, I was going to get close to Captain Jack Sparrow. Go me!

As we neared the particular dock, I half watched as the guards pulled Jack, Elizabeth and Christine out of the water, and knew that Jack was cutting off Elizabeth's corset. Frankly, I envied her. I had fallen behind quite a bit by this point, and by the time I got close enough to really see those gorgeous kohl-lined eyes, Jack had already grabbed Elizabeth by the throat with his cuffs.

Hey! Why did she get all the luck?!

"Let her go!" A ticked off female voice yelled, and I groaned, wincing. Christine….

"I'm alright," Elizabeth's lips barely moved, but I could see it clear enough from the angle I stood at at that moment.

And so, now separated from the centre of action by a rather large crowd of angry soldiers, I could only watch helpless as Jack (Captain Jack, sorry) called, "You shall all remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!" go for a ride on his very own impromptu twirl-a-whirl, and the rather dangerous hubbub that involved much shooting and missing. I retreated back from the crowds, ducking into an alley, trying to avoid the sporadic gunfire.  

And that was when, for the very first time in my life, I was glad that I couldn't run quickly. Because Jack leapt down onto the street, and started running. And because I was far behind everyone else, and had been separated from the soldiers by the curious crowd, and because I was now in that alley, I was in the avenue of travel that was safest. And because I was there, I was in the way.

I tried to jump back and out of Jack's way, but I tripped over the edge of my rather over-sized dress, and with an embarrassed yelp, I tumbled over into the dusty street, practically at Jack's feet. I don't think my face has ever been that red before.

And, to my immortal and eternal shock, Jack stopped, and bent over. "Alright there, luv?"

My throat locked up. I tried to breathe – he's talking to me he's talking to mehe'stalkingtome – but I found it surprisingly difficult. Gasping, I tried nodding.

A dirty hand reached down, firmly gripped my arm, and pulled me to my feet. I0 found myself staring into a pair of dark-rimmed, piercing eyes, and tried very, very hard to smile. "Alright?" he repeated.

"Uh-huh." I whispered, and he nodded, a foppish half-bow accompanying it before he moved to sprint again. My brain suddenly went back into gear when his hand left my arm, and I called, "Wait! Try the smithy!"

He turned, almost lazily, though personally I would have been running like the devil himself was on my tail. "Smithy?" he repeated, one eyebrow raised.

I swallowed, glancing over my shoulder to make sure the soldiers hadn't found this alley yet. They seemed to be sprinting along the main road instead. "A smithy could remove your chains, right? Pretty hard to swim with those on."

He smirked, and bowed again. "Brilliant bit o' thinkin', luv. I am forever in your debt."

And with that, he began running again, and this time, he was actually running.

I stood there a few more moments, staring after his retreating form, until long after he was gone. I was still standing there when I heard Christine's voice call my name. "Heather! Heather! Are you alright?!"

I blinked, and shook myself. "Yep, sure." I said, maybe a little too cheerily, because Christine gave me that you-just-grew-an-extra-head look again.

"The soldiers are after that pirate," she said, beginning the long walk up the hill to the Governor's house. "They'll catch him, don't worry. The way he treated Elizabeth!" she growled. It was weird, the way she defended a girl she barely knew, but Christine's like that with her friends. I think Elizabeth should be flattered. "I figured we'd head back up the hill. I dunno where that carriage driver went, or I'd be wanting a ride."

"It was really good of you to dive in to save Elizabeth," I said automatically. "Not very bright, what with those rocks, but really good."

She stuck her tongue out at me, and I laughed. Everything seemed almost normal again.

But of course, everything was not exactly normal. Jack was here, the pirates had been called, and I still had no idea what was going to happen in regards to us.

But he called me luv…….

I think I'm in love.

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