DISCLAIMER: I don't own Will, Elizabeth, Governor Swann, Norrington, or any of the other happy Pirates of the Caribbean bunch, except for Jack, whom I have kidnapped and keep locked in my closet. Oh, and I own my original characters too, of course. :P

A/N: Yes, yes, this is a Mary Sue one and all! No flames please, but if I do receive them, you can be sure they will be used to feed the roaring bonfire I enjoy to play with and to dance around while drinking rum and singing at the top of me lungs. But, come on all, really, don't judge Leah based solely on that! Remember, she does have an actual personality, depth, so some constructive reviews would still be very appreciated!

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Leah sighed as she finished the book, the one thing keeping her sane presently. She read the ending again. She threw the book against the wall praying for its demise. A happy ending where everything turns out just as it should, and everyone lives "happily ever after". If only the real world worked like that. If only her world worked like that. If it had, perhaps she'd actually have enjoyed the book, and if it had, perhaps she wouldn't be sitting leaning against a wall in an unused portion of her Father's house, trying desperately not to be heard and subsequently found. This had been her Mother's old sitting room, and in 17 years, her father had not seen fit to put it to some use, change a single thing about it, or even allow anyone to approach it. A perfect hiding place. Perfect place to sit and fume in, wearing only a bodice, and refusing to touch any of the finely crafted furniture with its thick layer of dust, a layer of dust that had been gathering steadily for those 17 years. Yes, it was the perfect place for Leah to read a book with a trademark happy ending that infuriated her and to throw it sharply against a wall, cursing herself for her stupidity directly afterwards and praying nobody had heard that, contemplating the best way to kill herself all the while.

Oh well, it was a bloody dreadful novel anyway. Terrible plot, and the lighting in the room wasn't exactly ideal for reading. In fact, she had to concentrate deeply to make out the writing. But still…

She sat perfectly still for a moment, listening. No, no one had heard the book crashing against the wall. She'd have to be more careful.

"Elizabeth, where are you…?" she muttered under her breath, spreading her legs out as she leaned further back against the white-painted wall. Sitting in the same position on the hard-wood floor for any long period of time became increasingly uncomfortable, and her sister's arrival would mean that she'd have something to do, a new book, something to eat, conversation, anything! True, it was Leah's own fault that she was there in that room, but who could blame her, with her life? The governor's younger daughter, the governor's troublemaking younger daughter, the one he'd sent away to something more suburban to stay with relatives where she wouldn't cause as much trouble to his name. She couldn't blame Father, she really wasn't the model gentlewoman, but she hated the plainness of it! After all, hadn't she left and hired a carriage herself to take her back to Port Royale, informing her guardians there that she'd received a message from her Father to return home only a month after he'd sent her there? She'd even forged the very message itself!

Yes, and then her coercing her sister Elizabeth, the only one in this world that kept her from going completely mad, to hide her. No, no one could blame Leah's father for sending her away to live with those relatives, although for all the good it had done him… he still thought her there, had no idea she'd returned! He'd write a letter asking on her condition soon, though, and what she would do then, she had not the slightest idea.

Taking a deep look at the ceiling for about the thousandth time that day, rounding the number of glances down of course, she lay back on the floor and closed her eyes, forcing her psyche to drop down into memories of more pleasant times and better, more comfortable, surroundings. As usually occurs when one is trying desperately to slip out of reality, she was chained all the more to it, and became all the more painfully aware of her increasing discomfort and restlessness. Sitting up fists clenched so tightly that they were shaking, she tried very, very hard to not scream her frustration out to the world and thereby make her presence known. Calmed just enough, she slowly lay back down onto her back, arms beneath her head. More comfortable this time, certainly.

This time, she would… drift into her thoughts. This time, perchance she could get her mind out of this horrid place, or else she might be driven to insanity. To many others, she probably would have already seemed insane. She seemed pretty close to it even herself! But… this drifting just might work, and she would try it.

Surprisingly enough, after a long enough while of this deep, almost meditative-like state, Leah Swann succeeded in her escape. Not too long after that, she fell asleep, which really wasn't that surprising, if one thinks about it. She hadn't been sleeping too well lately, and hadn't had more than 10 hours of sleep in the past three days.