Chapter 13
Disclaimer: Not mine. Except Pearl. And the leprechaun. No one may steal my leprechaun!
The tavern within was considerably more cheery than the previous one. It was brighter in here, although still shadowy as all taverns. The patrons chortled loudly, most singing some bawdy song involving a whore named Lucy and her cat, as best he could tell. The prostitutes were pristine, painted and colorful in dress, flitting around full of laughter. Several people called hellos to Pearl the moment she entered. She greeted them all warmly, waving to those she couldn't reach and laughing with those she could trade a few words with.
"Pearl!" he heard several voices call at the exact same time to her right. Three beautiful painted dolls, all exactly alike, flew forward.
"Hey girls!" Pearl greeted warmly, kissing each on the cheek and wiping the white powder from her lips. "Are you working tonight?"
"Yes," they answered all together. "Any suggestions?" one asked, eyeing Norrington. "This one looks rich enough to afford us."
"Aye, and far too proper to buy you," Pearl answered. "He probably wouldn't know what to do with the lot of you."
"We could teach him," one suggested.
"No way, Tri. This un's mine, and if you see anyone else heckling him I'd thank you to remind them of that."
Three identical pouts greeted her. "You never share the cute ones," one said.
"Marden makes his own decisions, Di, and I'll not be held responsible for them. I'm looking for Cork. You seen him?"
"Behind the bar," one of the girls answered.
"You should see your mother though," another said. "Your brother's in town."
"And that wife of his isn't sharing," the third put in with a very pretty pout.
"Tass is here?" she asked. "Where?"
"Toward the back," one answered, all three pointing in unison.
"Thanks girls," she said quickly, plunging into the crowd and dragging Norrington after her.
"Who were they?" he asked.
"The triplets. Old friends. There isn't a girl in Tortuga as isn't jealous of them. They only work one night a week. You wouldn't believe what men will pay for them together."
"What do you mean together?"
She laughed, but didn't turn around, merely continued to pull him after her. "Pearl!" they heard to their right.
The girl surged in that direction, dropping his hand to wrap her arms around a round woman with the same flaming red. "Mama!" she cried. "Tass! You hulking stork of a man, get out of your chair and hug your sister!""
A man, who had been sitting at the table, put down the boy in his arms to stand and hug the girl. Leaning down suddenly he lifted her into his arms and spun her around as she laughed shrilly, wrapping an arm around his neck.
He was indeed a stork of a man. He was all tall and long, with lanky arms and legs wrapped in hard muscles and tanned to mark him a sailor. His face was bold and strong, dominated by a hooked nose. His eyes were blue and he had the same bright red hair as the rest of the family, really the only similarity between them.
"Aunt Pearl!" a little girl, perhaps ten years old, came rushing out to hug the girl as soon as the man put her down, followed closely by a little boy. Both had red hair and had a mass of freckles.
Pearl laughed, dropping to her knees to hug them both. "Oh, my little ones. I've missed you. And you, Bierdie," she called to a scowling woman still sitting at the table. The woman snorted and looked away.
"Aunt Pearl, Aunt Pearl, did you bring us anything?" the girl asked.
"Afraid not, little one. I didn't plan on coming."
"Not more trouble with the ship?" the first woman Pearl had hugged demanded.
"Different ship, different trouble," Pearl answered. "We cast off at noon tomorrow."
"You're spoiling me, spending so much time here. And who is this fine young man you've brought. Is he one of Jack's?" she asked with a friendly smile.
Pearl laughed at that, as did Norrington after a moment. "No, no. This is Edward. You remember the man as was after us?"
"The Commodore?" she asked in hushed tones.
Pearl nodded, motioning toward him. "Edward, I'd like you to meet my mother, Diamond."
"It is truly a pleasure to meet you, My Lord," she answered with a deep curtsy.
"Stop it," Pearl ordered. "He'll get a big head."
Ignoring her, Norrington bowed to the woman. "The pleasure is all mine," he answered.
Diamond drew back, blushing just a bit as Pearl sighed loudly. "This is my brother, Tass." The man nodded as he reclaimed his seat. "These are his darling children," she continued, hoisting the boy onto her hip as the girl looked shyly up at the new man from half behind her. "And that cheery woman over there is my sister-in-law. She isn't overly fond of me, but then I'm not overfond of her so it all evens out." Her eyes fell on the final occupant of the table. He was a boy about Pearl's age with a sweet face who was looking a bit shyly down. "And this handsome lad I don't know."
"He's mine," Tass put in. "Part of my crew. Doesn't know anyone in Tortuga so I brought him along. Name's Joseph, but we call him Flit. He's forever in the sails. Flies around like a bird, this one. Flit, this is my darling little sister, Pearl."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," she told him.
He stared at her. "Are you really Jack Sparrow's daughter?"
"Contrary to my wishes, I'm afraid I am," she answered solemnly.
"I've heard he's bloody brilliant."
"He's also bloody insane," Pearl put in. "As am I. Consider yourself warned."
"I don't recall ever getting a warning," Norrington remarked.
"Poor baby," Pearl said. "Grab a seat. I need to talk to Cork. Would you lot mind watching him?" she asked with a nod toward Norrington. "Being who he is plenty of people would love to, you know," she said, making a cutting motion across her throat.
"Only if you change, lassy," Diamond told her, returning to her own seat.
"Mother, I haven't time for skirts," Pearl argued.
"I don't recall caring. Go change, girl. That's an order."
With a heavy sigh Pearl handed the boy off to her brother. "Come on Sirie, you can help me," she said, disappearing with her niece as the Commodore took a seat.
"Sirie?" Norrington repeated.
"Short for Siren. Named after her aunt. Have some rum," Tass suggested helpfully.
"So how are you enjoying my little girl?" Diamond queried.
"Ignore her," Tass ordered. "She's just having fits over the idea of a Commodore for an in-law."
"And what's wrong with that, I'd like to know?"
"Beyond him chasing me from one end of the sea to the other trying to hang me? Nothing at all."
"Oh, pish toss," she answered with a wave of her hand. "He'd never hang his own brother."
"I think I need more rum before we start really talking about this," Norrington remarked.
"I would have thought being around Pearl would thicken your skin," Tass remarked.
"It has," Norrington assured him. "More than I ever thought possible."
"Aye. Impossible takes on a whole new meaning around me dear," Diamond put in.
"That's Jack's doing, and no doubt about it," Tass' wife commented as she shifted her son on her lap.
"I don' know," Diamond put in. "She was mighty stubborn as a little lass, long before Jack ever met her."
"So it's in her nature," Tass put in. "But she could have inherited her nature from her father as well."
"Nay, nay. I think she got it from her Aunt Jewel," Diamond said.
"Well, that's a distinct possibility," he conceded. "So have you slept with her yet?"
Norrington spit the drink of rum he'd been taking onto the table. "I beg your pardon?"
"Oh, come on. You're sitting in a tavern with her prostitute mother and rum-runner brother. You can tell us," Tass said.
Norrington looked to Diamond, expecting her to put them straight. Instead he found her staring up at him intently. "You must be kidding!"
"I assure you, we aren't," Tass put in.
"Come, laddy, no need to be timid. You are a navy man, after all," Diamond said, patting him firmly on his shoulder. "There must be some goings on you've been party to as wouldn't be particularly appropriate."
"Not on my ship, I assure you," Norrington said.
"Not that you know of," Tass added. "Be glad yer workin' with us, boy," he remarked as he elbowed Flit. "Look what you'd be turned into in the Navy."
"I resent that," Norrington said. "There's nothing to be ashamed of in the Navy."
"There ain't nothin' to be ashamed of in havin' yer way with a willin' and beautiful woman like me Pearl niethers," Diamond put in.
"Regardless, I assure you I have not impinged upon your daughter's reputation."
Tass stared at him in apparent shock. "Why the bloody hell not?"
"What do you mean 'why not?' She's a pirate and I'm a Commodore. It wouldn't be practical, to say nothing of inappropriate."
"There's nothin' inappropriate about followin' yer instincts," Diamond answered. "If she wants you and you wants her there ain't nothin' about the situation as says anything but to go fer it."
"Wait. Who said she wants me?" Norrington asked.
"It's fairly obvious," Tass said with a wave of his hand. "Asides, yer handsome enough."
"All right," he answered, a bit unsettled at the thought. Certainly he'd known she was willing, but wanting was a different matter. "Who said I wanted her?"
The entire table burst out laughing. "You ain't blind man," Diamond said, "and my daughter ain't nothin' if not pretty to look at. That is to say, assumin' yer tastes don't run a different dirrection."
Norrington looked in her in confusion. "I don't follow."
"Another direction," Tass said. "Say, toward yer shipmates." Norrington continued to look confused. "Men, lad, toward men!" Tass finally burst out. "By heavens, it's common enough practice among sailors!"
"Oh!" Norrington suddenly turned a bright flaming red. "No, no. I assure you my tastes run in exactly your sister's direction."
"Then what's stopping you?" Tass asked. "She ain't askin' fer marriage, I can tell you that."
Diamond laughed. "Now that'd be the fastest way to see her run in the other direction."
"I don't know. I suppose the moment just hasn't been right." Once again the entire table was laughing, and once again Norrington was blushing hotly.
"Oh, you nobles and yer romantic ideas," Diamond wheezed out around laughs.
"What's so funny? Are you torturing Edward? Because that's my job."
He turned with a sigh of relief toward the sound of Pearl's voice. While hardly a shining example of proper manners her family made her look downright civilized.
He froze at the sight of the angel behind him. The pirate garb was gone, replaced by a shining white gown embroidered with thread-of-gold in a pattern of waves. The white made her tanned skin positively glow. It pushed a wide expanse of bosom into view. The arms of the gown from the shoulders down were slit open, held shut with a series of golden buttons on the top. The colorful beads were gone from her hair, replaced with ivory and gold to match the dress, standing out from the flaming red hair. Diamond earrings hung from her lobes in teardrop shapes, and diamond rings sparkled on her hands. A golden necklace graced her swan-like neck, a large white pearl set into the center.
"Yer mouth is hanging open," Tass told the Commodore, elbowing him as he stood to bow and kiss his sister's hand. "My fair Lady, won't you grace us with your beauty for a while before you flit back off to heaven?"
"I believe I have time just at the moment," she remarked as her brother led her to the seat between the Commodore and her mother. "I spoke to Cork, Edward. He's going to go give Cane the gold and a talking to he'll not soon forget. We'll set sail at noon tomorrow, rudder and all."
"Th-that's really excellent news," Norrington stuttered out. Pearl gave her mother a look as she turned a chuckle into a cough.
"Pearl, why haven't you slept with this excellent specimen here?" Diamond demanded.
Coming out of his stupor Norrington coughed. Pearl shrugged as if her mother had just asked why the table was brown. "It isn't for lack of trying on my part. The poor thing's shy. Don't worry, the night's young and we aren't in Port Royal yet." Laughing at the look on his face she added, "I need rum. Tass?"
"Oh no you don't. You can spend your own coin on your own drink," he told her.
"Please?"
"No."
She leaned closer to him, batting her eyelashes. "Please?"
"No."
"Ta-a-assss," she whined out.
"No, I said." He glanced over at his son, who was half asleep against his mother's breast. "Bed time!" he announced.
"No!" that awoke both the boy and the girl who had been standing quietly by.
"Yes."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the boy wailed.
"Oh, hush. Come, what if I sing a lullaby to you?" Pearl suggested.
The boy sniffled. "Promise?"
"Aye, I promise."
"Two?"
"Nay, you little pirate. Only one. Come," she ordered, holding out her arms.
The boy reached for her, clinging comfortably to her shoulder and pillowing his head against her bust. Norrington couldn't help but think how natural she looked with the babe in her arms.
"Need help?" Tass offered.
"Nope, I think I have it. Come on Siren. Edward, you're welcome to come as well. Mayhaps I can keep you out of trouble for a moment."
The table fell silent in astonishment as she turned to go. "She never lets anyone hear her sing to the little ones," Diamond told him in a quick whisper. "This is quite a compliment."
Norrington looked around at the other rather awed faces around the table, feeling butterflies stir in his stomach as he followed the call of, "Coming Edward?"
He followed her up a set of stairs in the back of the tavern. "My room," she remarked in passing as they moved passed a door. "Actually mine and Ruby's, but since she's staying out tonight we can sleep there." Her eyes suggested a good deal more than sleep.
He ignored that as he followed her into the room. "Light a candle," she ordered as she lay the boy down on the bed and the girl crawled in with him.
Pearl sat on the edge of the bed, grinning down at the little ones. Seeing her like that, glowing in her white dress in the murky light of the single candle he held, smiling down on them like some angel, Norrington thought for a moment that his heart would leap from his chest.
"So what's it to be?" she asked the children as they cuddled close together. Leaning over she took Norrington's hand and pulled him onto the bed to sit beside her, taking the candle from him to place it on the bedside table.
"Sweet dreams," the boy called.
"Now, is that fair to your sister?"
"I don't mind, Aunt Pearl," the girl said quickly. "I like that one, even if it is about a boy."
"You're certain?" she asked. The girl nodded and Pearl leaned down to cuddle close and whisper, "You're such a good little girl, my Siren." Kissing her cheek she straightened. "All right. Are you ready?" The children nodded eagerly.
Leaning close to the boy she began singing in little more than a husky whisper, "Dragon tales and that water is wide, pirates sail and sea gulls fly, fish bite moonbeams every night," she leaned closer to whisper into his ear, "and I. Love. You."
Straightening she suddenly unleashed her voice. While she still sang softly with a sense of familiarity the song wrapped around the room, brushing them all in a gentle embrace.
"Godspeed, little man. Sweet dreams, little man." Suddenly her voice rose higher, an angel's voice brushing them as tenderly as any feathered wings, "Oh, my love will fly to you each nigh on angel's wings. Godspeed. Sweet dreams."
The boy stared in wonder up at his aunt, candlelight reflecting in eyes big as plates, making them shine. Pearl grinned in the moment she took to breath, letting the notes fade from the air before beginning again. "Captain Archibald's all tuckered out. The admiral's asleep in my arms. Goodnight moon, don't mind the mouse, and I love you. Godspeed, little man. Sweet dreams, little man. Oh, my love will fly to you each night on angel's wings. Godspeed. Sweet dreams."
She grinned down at the boy before glancing over her shoulder at Norrington. He could only imagine how he looked, an odd cross between awe and surprise on his face. It made her grin wider as she turned back to the boy who was grinning sleepily up at her. "God bless Mommy and ships from far. God bless Daddy and thanks for the stars. God hears 'Amen' wherever you are and I. Love. You." She pulled the covers up close. "Godspeed, little man. Sweet dreams, little man. Oh, my love will fly to you each night on angel's wings. Godspeed. Sweet dreams."
With a final smile she kissed the children each on the cheek, took the candle, and slipped silently from the room.
"How did you do that?" he asked, still in awe, as he followed her down the stairs.
"Do what?" she asked innocently.
"Sing like that. I had no idea."
"Few do," she told him. "It's sort of an unofficial secret. Can I trust you to keep it to yourself?"
"Sure, although I can't imagine why," he answered. "You're going to make an amazing mother some day."
Pearl laughed. "No, I won't. Never. I can't have children. Tortuga is no place to raise kids, and a pirate ship isn't much better."
"You did well enough growing up here."
"Yes, but knowing what I went through I'm even more certain that I would never wish to put a child through that."
"But, you must want children. I mean, you are a woman."
Pearl laughed outright at that. "Yes, and we all love to sew and knit and curtsy and fanny about saying things like, 'I want nothing more than a clean house,' and shriek and run away at the sight of mice and pirates," she told him sarcastically. "Edward, I'm not an upstanding example of anything, least of all womanhood, but you can't make a generalized statement like that about a group of people. Any group of people. Pirates, for example."
Norrington fell silent out of pure confusion if nothing else as she led him back to the table. "All tucked in. I'm going after some rum. You stay," she ordered Norrington before turning and flouncing away.
Norrington shook his head as he dropped into a chair. "What'd she sing?" Tass asked.
"Godspeed. I didn't know she was so religious," he remarked.
"She isn't," her sister-in-law put in.
"Doesn't mean she doesn't want for our children what she hasn't found herself," Tass put in. "Asides, she says it reassures the kids and keeps her in their thoughts. That's one o' my favorites."
"You in love with her yet?" Diamond asked with a laugh.
"Dangerously close, I'm afraid," he sighed. "And wouldn't that be a hazard, seeing as how pirates don't love?"
"Oh, bullocks," Diamond said. "She talks big, but look how soft she be when it comes to her father. That lass loves with all her heart, and don't let her ever tell you different."
"I don't think anyone ever LETS Pearl do anything," he remarked.
"And don't you forget it," he heard behind him. Pearl appeared, grin larger than usual which, he was finding, was a sure sign of trouble.
Setting her bottle on the table she turned, flipped her skirt, threw one leg over Norrington's knees to straddle him, and he found himself with a lap full of the beautiful woman.
She leaned forward, placing her arms on either side of his head to brush her fingers through his hair, giving him a very nice view of her assets.
"Let's dance," Tass suggested suddenly, leveling his wife to her feet.
"You too, scamp," Diamond ordered, grabbing the wide-eyed Flit and dragging him onto the dance floor.
Norrington stared up at her, wide-eyed. This had to be the most...provocative position he had ever been in with a woman, at least in public. Lord, her skirt barely covered her thighs!
"Pearl, what are you doing?"
"Giving you an invitation, Tortuga style. See anything you'd like to...sample?"
A nasty spark lit her eyes as she leaned closer, nose brushing his, then her lips-
"No!" He pushed back hard, standing and catching her in his arms before he could knock her to the floor.
"Pardon me?" she asked.
"Pearl, this isn't right?"
"What isn't right?" she asked.
"This! You, me, like this."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, anger rising in her voice.
"It isn't proper, is all," he struggled to explain.
"Hang proper! You're in Tortuga! The whole bloody town is built on a lack of 'proper.'"
"It doesn't matter. Don't you see that Pearl? It doesn't matter what I wear or where I am or what you wear. I'm still who I am. I'm still a Commodore and you're still-" He stopped just short of making the biggest mistake of his life, the fire in the hellcat's eyes before him making him step back.
"I'm a what?" she demanded, following him.
"You're a, that is, a young, a pirate-"
"I'm a whore," she hissed into his face as a table blocked his steady retreat.
"I didn't say that," he objected.
"You were going to," she answered. "Don't worry, Norrington, I can fill in the blanks as well as the next lass. I'm just a bloody whore, far too bloody dirty for you to be bothered with. You're too good for any but the likes of Elizabeth Swann. Some bloody soft, empty-headed, well-bred lass to dangle on your arm and show off to your friends."
She turned suddenly, stomping away from him. "Pearl, don't, please," he begged, catching her arm.
She stopped, glaring down at his hand. "Best not touch dirty whores, Commodore. Don't know where they've been. Hate for you to catch something." With that she pulled out of his grasp and stomped onto the floor.
He considered following her, but stopped when he lost sight of her. Sighing heavily he settled down at the table, taking possession of her rum. If ever he needed a stiff drink it was now, even if it did taste like tar.
It only took moments for Diamond to come striding up to the table, plant herself into the chair next to him, glare at him hard enough to boil his rum, and demand, "What the bloody hell did ye do?"
"Made a mistake, I'd wager," he answered.
"Aye, ye did that. What'd'y say?"
"Nothing!" he answered defensively. "She wouldn't let me get in two words together."
Diamond continued to scowl at him. "It makes no matter, although I'd wager you called her a tavern whore loud and clear to her face."
"I didn't! If she would stop putting words into my mouth!"
"Aye. Well, you walk a mile in that lass' shoes and see if you ain't a might defensive an' all. So now you need to fix it."
"Me?" he repeated. "I didn't do anything! I'm a bloody--" he stopped to lower his voice before continuing "--a bloody Commodore. She took over MY ship!"
"Aye, but she's a pirate. An' she gave it back, and is doin' her all to see you safely home, which be against her pirate nature sure enough. Besides which, you're crazy about her." He opened his mouth to object but she waved him off. "Don't lie to me, laddy. I'm a whore, and we learn a good deal more than actin' and pleasin'."
He frowned at the last, glaring into his rum. "What do I have to do?"
"Think on it, laddy. Raised among pirates and prostitutes. What's the one thing ye could do as would catch her off her guard? To shock her long enough for you to get out what ye need her to hear?"
He shrugged. "Apologize, I suppose," he said with a harsh laugh. But Diamond wasn't laughing. On the contrary, she was looking at him very seriously. "You must be joking!"
"It's up to you, laddie. Depends on how fond you've grown of me daughter I suppose. Yer alternative is sittin' here drinkin' yerself stupid like some common pirate. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a belly to fill and that'll take customers."
He sighed as he watched her waltz away. Bloody hell. The pirate comment galled too.
He stood and strode out to the dance floor. A single man stood on the stage, playing the fiddle for all he was worth as the crowd thronged around him. It took him several minutes to find her dancing with the pretty little Flit. Dancing was being generous. It was more like pressing herself wantonly against him as he swayed, scarlet as he gazed at the beauty before him.
She leaned forward to whisper something in his ear that turned him an even darker shade of scarlet. As she pulled away she met Norrington's eyes. Grinning and raising one eyebrow she pressed forward to seal Flit's lips with hers.
Growling under his breath Norrington strode quickly forward. Grabbing her upper arm he wrenched her away from the youth. "Best be careful. The last man as touched me like that ended up short a few teeth," she warned.
"I'll take my chances," he answered. "I need to speak to you."
"Go talk to a wall, it'll get you just as far," she snapped at him. "I've nothing to say to you."
She started to turn away but he retained his grip. "I must insist."
"You'll have to drag me kicking and screaming," she answered, pulling her arm from his grasp.
"Fine," he agreed. Moving quickly he bent to scoop her over his shoulder and carry her quickly toward the stairs as she shrieked. She beat at his back all the way up the stairs and into the room she'd pointed out as hers.
He dropped her, making sure she was steady on her feet before releasing her to lock the door. "You DARE!" she cried.
"Yes, I do," he answered. "Obviously. Now you're going to sit down and listen to what I meant to say."
"What makes you so certain of that?" she demanded.
"Because if you really wanted to get away from me you would have," he answered. He knew he had her backed into a corner on that account. She would never admit that she was too weak to escape him, which was proper enough since he had no doubt that she could have beaten him to a bloody pulp if she had wanted to.
"A mistake I can easily rectify," she answered, sweeping toward the door.
"I'm sorry." She stopped, hand poised on the lock. "I'm sorry if I suggested that you're a whore. You aren't. I know that. I've told you that before." She turned slowly, confusion written on her face. "Do you forgive me?" he asked helpfully.
"I'm not sure," she answered. "I mean, I don't, I've never--"
"Just say yes," he suggested.
"All right, I forgive you," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I have plenty more I can hold over your head."
He groaned inwardly. "I suppose that'll do."
"Is there anything else?" she asked, the heat of anger still in her voice.
"What more do you want?" he demanded.
"For you to wake up," she replied. "To stop going on about 'proper' and just do what you want. I mean, don't you want me? Heaven knows I want you."
"Of course I want you. A blind man would want you. I'm not made of stone."
"Some days it's hard to tell," she answered. "So." She moved smoothly across the room to stand in front of him. "So, should we get to it?" The nasty twinkle was back as she moved to press herself against him, her lips seeking his.
"Pearl, please," he said, stepping out of her arms. He moved across the small room, standing next to the straw pallet on the floor covered in tangled sheets of varying colors and materials. He was fairly certain there was silk in there somewhere.
If that was less than comforting so was her continued proximity. It was a small room, various miss-matched patches of cloth and bright bobbles messily attached to the wall seemingly at random, making a brightly colored mix of colors that nearly hurt the eyes. The pallet took up most of the room, a small, cluttered desk and trunk were the only other pieces in the room. He was as far from the girl as he could get without standing on the bed and there was barely two feet between them.
"What?!" she demanded, frustration coloring her voice. That close he felt the full heat of her anger.
"I don't want it to be like this."
"Like what?" she asked, anger edging her voice. "And if you start going on again about some whore-"
"I never said anything about any whore," he pointed out. "I just don't want it to be a one-night thing. I don't want to cheapen what this is."
"What what is?" Pearl demanded.
"I don't know. Whatever's between us." He took the two steps to stand before her, taking her hands in his own, gazing down into her confused eyes. "I love you Pearl."
Her eyes widened and she took a step back, pulling away from him. "Don't say that."
"Why not? It's true," he assured her, following.
"No, it isn't. It can't be," she turned her back, confusion swirling in those deep eyes.
"I assure you, it can. Pearl, I have to ask you something very important."
She turned suddenly, hurrying around him to sit on her pallet and pull her knees up tightly to her chest on the bed. "No. Don't Edward, please."
He followed her, sitting next to her. "Pearl Siren Sparrow, would you marry me?"
She shook her head. "I can't."
"Why not?!" What was it with women turning down his marriage proposals? Did he have 'reject me' tattooed across his forehead?
"It wouldn't work, Edward."
"Of course it would. We'd make it work."
"Edward, we couldn't. Not for long. I'm sure it would work at first but after a while I'd start missing the sea and I'd get snappy with you and you'd start spending more time at the office to avoid me and dallying the maids-"
"Pearl!" he cried.
"And in the end I'd either abandon you to sail away or kill myself. And you deserve better either way."
"Pearl, you can't know that," he argued.
"But I do," she answered. "And you do, deep in your heart. I told you I'd waist away if I were taken from the sea. That hasn't changed."
"Maybe we could work something out. You could, I don't know, run off with your father every few months," he suggested.
"Edward, you're a Commodore. Think of the rumors. And if anyone ever found out you'd have to either hang me or be ruined. It's sweet of you to think of all this, but there just isn't any way. If it makes you feel any better I think I'd love you if I let myself."
He laughed roughly. Now it was his turn to look away, staring down at his hands. "It doesn't."
"I know. And I'm sorry. But even if we can't have, you know, forever, there is still tonight."
"Pearl, I don't want to treat you like some whore. Some one-night fling."
She shrugged as she inched closer. "So treat me like a pirate. Take what you can."
"Give nothing back," he finished for her. "But that doesn't make it right."
"Wrong. It doesn't make it proper. I don't mind telling you, at this moment, to my way of thinking, there is nothing more 'right' in the whole of the world." She leaned forward, nose barely brushing his. "Tell me I'm wrong. That you feel differently."
"I can't," he said, breath catching in his throat at the sight of desire burning in those eyes.
"Then show me I'm right," she demanded. And just like that she was in his lap again, skirt riding up her thighs as she leaned forward to capture his lips in a searing kiss. And in that moment Commodore Norrington was lost. There was only Edward, with a demanding woman he had wanted since he first met her pressed against him. He twisted, trapping her beneath him on the straw mattress , kissing his way down her neck.
Author's Note: Well, there you go. Long chapter so I don't want to hear any complaints. And it was about time this happened, wasn't it? The song is from the Dixie Chick's new album, "Home." I can't say it's as good as "Fly," but we are talking the Chicks so I can't argue. I changed the words a lot to fit the historical perspective. I just had to get Pearl into a motherly mode. She was registering a little too butch for my liking. I hope you didn't hate it.
Slight warning: It's all downhill from here. They're going to head home soon which means I'm wrapping up the story. No screaming.
Now, since I'm through that, I need to get back to bribing you all into reviewing. So where is that leprechaun? "RUM!" Ah, here he is.
CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow enters in all his glory with a small green thing hopping up and down on his shoulder.
Me: "Wow. You walked in here all on your own?"
Jack: "Well, this little guy said you promised him rum."
Leprechaun: "RUM!"
Me: "You mean he said more than three words in a row? I'm impressed."
Leprechaun: "RUM! ME RUM!! NOW!"
Me: "Yes, you may have your rum now that you Finally got it right." Goes over and opens the closet door, allowing the creature to attack the pile of rum.
Jack: Rubbing his hands together and eying the rum thoughtfully "About that, luv."
Me: "You're out of rum, aren't you Jack?"
Jack: "Just a wee bit?"
Me: "That's why you came here, isn't it? You thought maybe you could get some rum too."
Jack: "What can I say, luv? I'm a predictable sort."
Me: "I wouldn't say that. But of course you may have as much rum as you want."
Jack: Starts to grab some rum but pauses, looking suspiciously up at me "What's the catch?"
Me: Grins "What makes you think there's a catch?"
Jack: "Call me a suspicions sort. What've I got to do?"
Me: Points to reviewers "Take care of them. Fulfill their every need."
Jack: Carefully studies the gathered, salivating reviewers "All right. They're a pretty enough lot. Rum first.
Me: "Help yourself." Watches the man begin fighting with the leprechaun over the rum."
Jack: "We'll split it 90/10. 'Course I get 90 since I do all the work."
Leprechaun: "MINE!"
Jack: "All right, 80/20"
Leprechaun: "MINE! ALL MINE! MINE RUM!"
Jack: "70/30, and that's final."
Leprechaun: "MINE RUM!"
Me: So there you have it, my fine reviewers. Review and you get a turn with Jack. And I didn't even have to lock him in the closet.
Jack: "OW!"
Me: "Bad leprechaun! No biting! Don't worry, reviewers. I won't ask the same of you" Wink wink