Author's note: It's the day after Thanksgiving, and I'm DETERMINED to write this and put it up today! I must humbly implore anyone who is reading this and has read my Jack/Anamaria series (or would like to read such a series!) to read and review the (possibly) last bit of it, called "A Friendly Wager." I only have one review so far; I guess I picked a bad time to update! I hope y'all enjoy this new chapter, because I think it's going to be very fun to write!

Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1.

Chapter Two: Strange Sympathy

Unkind as it sounded, Estrella was always a little grateful when the cook had one of her headaches. She'd have to go lie down in her room, and Estrella would get sent to market in her place. The market, of course, was in the center of town, and conveniently close to Will's smithy.

After she had finished her shopping, she found that she had a bit of money left over, so she bought herself a large apple before wandering toward Mr. Brown's establishment. She nibbled the fruit as slowly as possible, trying to make it last longer, and she still had most of it left by the time she reached the smithy door.

"Hullo, Will!" she called out, after peeking in to see that his employer was absent and Will was diligently working alone, as usual.

"Morning, Strella," he answered, turning his head to smile at her but continuing to pound the sword he was working on into shape.

Estrella walked over to greet the donkey, who was still a little skittish after the pirate encounters in the shop. She stroked the animal's ears, and it nuzzled her affectionately. If only Will was this easy to win over, she smiled to herself.

She sneaked up behind the object of her longing and peered over his shoulder. "Who're you making that for?"

"Some dull merchant fellow. Don't stand so close, little one." He pushed gently on her arm, and she stepped back obediently, torn between annoyance that he still thought her "little" and happiness that he at least cared enough to not want her burned.

I am little compared to Elizabeth, she thought with annoyance. Her mistress was several inches taller and two years older, and also slender and rich on top of all of that. As soon as these thoughts crowded into her mind, Estrella tried to push them out again. She liked her employer very much and always felt guilty when she let her jealousy over Will run too rampant.

The amiable blacksmith was still working quietly, so she looked around for something to amuse herself. Choosing a rather dangerous diversion, she pulled a sword off one of the racks. She was a little surprised by how heavy it was, but once she was accustomed to the weight she began swinging it around cheerfully, aiming at imaginary enemies.

This is fun, she thought mischievously, pointing the blade at a spot in midair. Cheered by Will's very presence, some of the dark mood that had been bothering her was vanishing.

The donkey, alarmed by her strange actions, gave a nervous bray. Will glanced over to see what was wrong, turned back to his hearth, then did a double take. "Estrella! Careful, that's sharp!"

"Oh, really? I thought this blade was made of gilt-paper!" she answered sarcastically, widening her eyes in mock innocence and brandishing the sword at him.

Will rolled his eyes. "Do you have a death wish today?"

Only if I have to leave you, she thought. "Don't be a coward!" she said.

"Oh, you're in for it now, rascal!" Will said, sensitive as any man in regards to his courage. He grabbed a sword off a shelf nearby. "I've defeated a pirate in this shop!"

"Really? I heard that Mr. Brown did it!" Estrella chuckled. Will had told her the pirate story already, and the undue credit given to his slovenly master still irked him quite a bit.

"Agh!" Will cried, slicing at the air between them. Surprised, Estrella swung her sword out and blocked the path of his blade.

The steel crashed together menacingly, and Will raised his eyebrows. "Getting cocky now, aren't we?" He swung his sword in a circle, shaking off Estrella's weapon.

Their play-fight continued, with Will naturally taking the upper hand. He slowly backed Estrella into a corner, finally knocking the sword out of her hand. Estrella squealed when she got a closer view of the fiercely sharp weapon her opponent still wielded.

"Touché!" she squeaked. Will grinned at her discomposure, but thankfully put down his sword.

"I'm glad you don't aspire to be a pirate, Strella. I'm not sure you'd make it!"

"Hmmph!" she grumbled.

"Don't be a sore loser," Will teased, poking his defeated challenger in the ribs.

Estrella giggled, apparently inspiring her friend to a new sort of attack. "Ah, I remember your weakness!" he crowed, beginning to tickle her.

"No! Stop, stop!" she gasped, laughing helplessly. He didn't listen to her pleas, apparently too resolute on getting revenge for her earlier insults.

"Take back what you said about Mr. Brown beating the pirate!"

"Yes! Fine! You beat him! Hahaha, stop it, Will!"

"What's that you said? Couldn't hear you!"

"YOU BEAT THE PIRATE!"

"You're bloody right, I did!" Will said, giving her a final poke but ceasing the attack. He burst out laughing, and Estrella had to lean against the wall to keep from falling over with mirth.

"Excuse me, Turner, is your shop open for business or are you. otherwise occupied?"

Estrella and Will jumped and turned toward the door, where Commodore Norrington stood, looking very dignified and mildly amused at the goings-on he had been silently witnessing.

"Oh! Commodore! Yes, it's open. I was just being. distracted. Very sorry," Will sputtered, walking back to the hearth as quickly as possible after shooting Estrella a dirty look. "What do you need, sir?" Will was usually a little standoffish to the commodore, but being caught in such ridiculous behavior during working hours had embarrassed him into a respectful tone and even a diffident smile.

"My horse threw her shoe. It will only take a few minutes to fix."

"Of course, sir."

Estrella had grabbed up her market basket and begun sneaking toward the door, but Will called out, "Strella, come hold the mare's head while I work." She meekly obeyed, trying hard to avoid Norrington's gaze. First he saw her dropping dishes and sobbing like a fool, and now he had witnessed her playing and screaming like a raucous, immature brat. He must think I'm completely unhinged. She stared down at the ground.

~*~*~

Despite Estrella's certainty that Norrington was reproaching her in his thoughts as he tried to catch her eye, the commodore was really thinking something quite different. He remembered the little maid's discomposure at the Swann house. He had thought that her tears then seemed too numerous to have been caused by the small cut on her hand, and he saw that her reaction to the sight of Will and Elizabeth's affection was more vehement than would be expected for mere surprise. He'd wondered at her extreme undoing, until he realized that his own heart ached at the tender scene he unwillingly witnessed, and the idea came to him that her tears sprang from the same well that his anguish flowed from.

Truth be told, he had chosen to marry Elizabeth because of the advantages that would come from such an action. After this rational decision, however, he had come to love her as he saw more of the beauty and spirit she'd developed in the time since he'd sailed with her on the ship to the Caribbean. She'd been a scrawny, scatterbrained child then, but she grew into a clever and lovely, though still too strong-willed, woman. He had let himself love her, seeing how well it would fit into his neatly planned life, and then all the plans had gone awry and left him without order and still without happiness. Even when he had loved her, he had doubted in his heart that Elizabeth would ever love him. His expectations in that area had been met and exceeded, as he had also received public embarrassment and loss of pride after the broken engagement.

So it's true that having a broken heart makes you wiser, he thought with a sad smile. He had never noticed a thing the Swanns' maid did before, but his own sadness had made him recognize hers in the drawing room, and then when he watched her joking and laughing with Will Turner, he saw the pure affection glowing from her plain face. He saw her bids for attention and her longing to be close to the young blacksmith, and as he stood silent in the doorway and watched their foolish play, he knew he would have chased after Elizabeth's attention just the same way if he hadn't been so proud. He had tried to win it with his accomplishments, after all.

Now the maid stood holding his horse's bridle and shooting nervous sideways glances toward him as he studied her face. It was funny that the first person he saw with his newly sensitive eyes was a person that he had never given a second thought to before. Clearly his heartache had humbled him, too.

"You want an apple, love?" the maid cooed to his mare, Ivy. She produced a slightly eaten one from her apron pocket and offered it to the horse.

Young Turner worked in silence, and the maid was whispering endearments to Ivy, trying to distract her from the blacksmith's task.

"What's your name?" Norrington suddenly asked, startling everyone including himself and the mare.

"Me?" Estrella replied, too surprised to add a "sir" as she should have.

"Yes." Norrington gulped.

"Estrella. sir!" she replied, remembering this time.

"Ah. 'Star'?"

"Yes, sir." She smiled at the recognition of her name's meaning, then hastily looked back down at the ground.

"Pretty."

"Thank you, sir." She smiled again, but kept her eyes on the horse instead of its master.

"Has your hand gotten better?"

"My what? Oh, yes, sir, much." Oh, no, he' s thinking about what happened last week, she thought with dread.

Before she knew what was happening, the commodore reached out and tipped her hand toward him so he could see the line that was still slightly visible on her plump, callused palm. "Ah, I see," he said lamely, quickly releasing her hand as he saw her startled face.

The poor girl looks scared to death of me, he thought, realizing with a tiny stab of regret that the kinship he felt toward her was most likely from his side only.

Oh, why did he have to mention that? He must think I'm either a silly child or an unbalanced fool, Estrella thought, still mortified by the dramatic mood swings the naval officer had seen her accomplish. She peeked over her shoulder at him.

She's very young, he thought suddenly, realizing that the girl was even younger than Elizabeth and still had a childish roundness to her face.

He's so tall! Estrella thought, receiving an impression of sturdy dignity that made her feel quite inconsequential. And looks very smart in his uniform, some mischievous voice inside her added, but she silenced this impulse by glancing over at Will, who was looking adorably diligent as he finished up the horseshoe.

I wonder if the commodore still loves Elizabeth, she queried suddenly, her thoughts turning uncontrollably back to the personified cause of her discomfort.

I can see that she loves Turner very much, Norrington thought, as he saw the gentle face turn toward the younger man.

Without knowing why the other did it, Estrella and Norrington gave each other a sympathetic smile, then hastily looked into the fire as though nothing had happened at all.

A/N: Dang, this is long! But at least I'm done and can post it, whew! Please tell me what you think! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!

I must implore again-please read my poor story "A Friendly Wager"! The site somehow deleted the summary so it didn't show up and hardly anyone read it! So if you have time, I'd greatly appreciate it! It's just a one-shot, though it's part of a series!