Chapter 6

After the evening was concluded, with after dinner dessert and wine or tea and light discussions, everyone went to their separate rooms for the night. Will found himself lying restlessly on his bed thinking over the thoughts that Jack had put into his head. He tried to relax, but when your head is full of things to think about, sleep isn't going to make a visit.

Will quickly got up thinking to himself, 'I've got to talk to Elizabeth." With this he left his room to go down the hall to hers.

Gently opening her door, Will entered her room. Lucky for him she was still awake and rolled over to stare at him when he came in.

"Will? What are you doing here?" She asked half asleep, half awake.

"I needed to talk to you, and no it cannot wait till morning." Will said in all seriousness.

Worried, Elizabeth sat up, "Will what is wrong? What has happened?"

He sat down on the side of the bed. "Nothing has happened, but Jack offered a proposal that I think we should seriously think about."

Elizabeth scoffed, "And what could Jack possibly have offered you?"

"Freedom." Will stated looking at her face, which remained expressionless.

"Freedom?" She questioned.

"Yes, freedom. Let's go away from here Elizabeth. You know that in everyone's eyes we are not matched right. We could go somewhere else and start a new life together." Will grabbed her hands.

"Will, I cannot just leave everything I have ever known. I couldn't do that to my Father, my Uncle or Catherine. Plus where would we go? Tortuga? If so, you can go alone." Elizabeth didn't know what to think at this moment. This just came as a surprise to her, and she really wasn't ready for that one.

"Elizabeth, you have forgotten that I am a pirate. We can do this together." He paused, looking at her and continued, "We've already done it once."

Elizabeth smiled, "We have haven't we?" She sighed, "When do we leave?"

Will eyes lit up with the happiness of a child, then he stated, "Tomorrow."

"That soon? Well, I'm sure that life will be completely different. I am willing to follow you Will, just don't expect me to become the perfect pirate for you." She smiled. Will kissed her softly, and got up to leave the room.

~*~

Jack looked up at the Swann home and pondered the best means of entry. As he was staring up at the house, he spotted Catherine at her window. As soon as she was there, she was gone. He then knew exactly how to get in.

Catherine sat on the side of her bed looking at the small bottle of elixir. She cringed at the thought of drinking it. She knew that the only way to sleep was to drink that elixir. She took the small bottle in her hand, opened it and took a drink from it. Coughing a bit she stood up and went back to the window. How different Port Royal seemed at night. Very few lights in windows could be seen, but she knew that majority of the people were sleeping soundly. She opened the window to hear the ocean. With that she went to her bed.

'Oh good, it's opened,' Jack thought to himself as he climbed the lattice covered with ivy. He stepped on the windowsill, and silently crept into Catherine's room.

Catherine, who wasn't yet asleep, has the feeling of not being alone. She opens her eyes and notices the shadow of a man towering over her. Her mouth open to scream, but is instantly covered.

"Catherine it's me, Jack. Don't scream and I'll uncover your mouth." Catherine nodded. Jack removed his hand promptly.

"Jack what are you doing here?" She asked, breathing heavily from her fright. He looked over at her. She realized that she was wearing her nightgown with no dressing coat to cover herself, so she pulled the blankets up higher.

"I came to talk to you about your passage on the Pearl." He stated simply.

"Listen Jack, if you came here to make me your wench, then I am sorry, but the answer to everything is no." Catherine stated putting all proper behavior aside, got out of her bed and grabbed the green leaf printed dressing coat and put it on.

Jack watched her for a moment before speaking. "If I wanted a strumpet I would head toward Tortuga. Catherine, I know about you and Lieutenant Collins. If you leave here like you want to, you're going to have to do something about him coming after you, me and my Pearl savvy?" He placed himself on her bed. She came over to him sitting beside him.

"Jack I know that I would be changing my life for you, so to speak, but I cannot make a complete promise that he will not try to come after me in some way." She sighed.

"Let's leave now."

"What?" Catherine looked up at him shocked.

"Write the bloke a letter and let's get Will and Elizabeth and leave now." Jack started to get excited.

"You are kidding right or have you gone mad?" Catherine sat on her bed not knowing what to do, but she could feel another coughing spell trying to rise.

"I've not gone mad Catherine. I think that this here idea is for the best. The best for everyone involved." Jack took her hands. Her mind flew to Collins, the man she loved.

"Jack I cannot do this." Jack dropped her hands and stared at her, but let her continue. "I cannot just leave Collins. I love Collins Jack. God, as much as I want to run away with you…" Catherine sighed, "I cannot."

"But what about freedom Catherine? I'm not saying that you'll be away forever Catherine, just for a while. I'll bring ya back here if you're not happy, if you'll do me the honor of coming with me? Do we have an accord?" Jack looked at her eyes, sparkling with tears.

"Ok Jack, we have an accord."

"Pack some things, where's Will's room?" Jack asked.

Catherine stopped him from going out of her room.

"You cannot just go out in this house are you daft? Let me go, do not worry about me packing. I can just grab some things and be on my way." Catherine left to go towards Will's room.

~*~

Jack was left alone in Catherine's room; he noticed the small bottle by her bed. He went to it and picked it up. He opened it and it smelled horrid. He had seen a bottle like this before when he was much younger, but couldn't quite place it. He looked on her desk and saw a leather bound book, and a pair of glasses. Things that belonged to her, he shivered as an unknown feeling ran through him. He would never belong to her for she belonged to Collins.

Author's Note: Sorry that this has taken SO long to come out, but my glasses broke on me and I can't exactly read the computer screen too well without them. So, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and soon I'll have a new pair of glasses. If you feel up to it and if you have AOL IM, IM me at mezzosiren. Later.