A/N1: Wooot!!!! Here it is, the next chapter! And it's not short, either! *The crowd goes wild* As I've been playing Final Fantasy X-2 nonstop lately, I'm so proud of myself for getting on here and typing! Anywayz, hope y'all enjoy, and don't forget to leave me thy comments via the review! :D You all have no idea how grateful I am for all the feedback! It's gone WAY past my wildest expectations! Thank you all! *Hands out bags of cash so that her wonderful, dear reviewers can buy anything and everything they desire… in the Monopoly game, as that's the only type of cash she can afford*
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Where were they? Where were they? Had something happened to all three of them? From the moment Will and Jack left, any and all worst-case scenarios dominated Leah's thoughts. She could think of nothing else. She of course tried to make herself useful, but the most she could really do was stand there deep in thought. Whenever she was to do a task, she did it so absentmindedly that she almost destroyed something at least twice, so eventually, she was left alone. She felt guilty for this, of course, but she simply could not concentrate. Where were they? Why was the rescue taking Will and Jack so long? They should be back by now!
Having been absolutely no use to any of the crew above deck, she'd gone below for not only their sakes, but also her own. If she had had to watch that ocean without any sign of an approaching jollyboat any longer, she would have gone insane. Literally. So there she was, pacing next to the stairs, wishing that this whole thing were over and done with. She did not allow herself to even consider where she would be once it was all over and done with, but still, she wished it were. Things would be simpler then. At least… that's what she wanted to believe.
Finally, unable to stand the waiting and the silence anymore, Leah stomped up the steps, getting very irritated with both Jack and Will. Not Elizabeth. It was not her fault that she'd been kidnapped. But those two… they should have gotten her back by now!
Luckily, she had very good timing, as just at that moment, her sister and her "rescue party" reached them. Unable to hold herself back, Leah could barely keep herself from pushing through the layer of pirates to reach her sister, instead squeezing herself between the two of them until they realized what she was up to and moved over. She reached the front only a few seconds after Mr. Gibbs had welcomed Elizabeth onboard, the latter gasping "Mr. Gibbs?" in astonishment. She was on a ship full of even more pirates after her horrible ordeal with a great bunch of them, and Mr. Gibbs was here?
Watching this, Leah noticed nothing but her sister. Not who was with Elizabeth, not the trail of oars leading away from the ship. No, all she noticed was Elizabeth, more or less her one true friend in this world, safe and sound and whole. And after all this time worrying. After all this time consorting with outlaws to see her safe return, and here she was!
"Elizabeth!" she managed to stammer out, overjoyed at her sister's safe return.
"Leah?" Elizabeth asked in turn, disbelieving, in about the same tone she had used to utter her last comment. What was Leah, her little sister, doing here? What was going on?
"I couldn't stay in Port Royale and watch the Commodore and Father make fools of themselves, sad to say, in trying to find you, Liz!" she offered in meek explanation, and moved forward. Still not quite understanding, but letting out a little laugh of both surprise and happiness, Elizabeth met her in a warm embrace. Smiling as she pulled back, Leah barely registered the conversation going on between Will and Mr. Gibbs.
"Hey, boy, where be Jack?"
"Jack," Elizabeth began, catching the words and turning to Will incredulously, "Jack Sparrow?"
"He fell behind."
Leah's smile gradually evaporated the moment this sunk in, and the younger of the two siblings stepped back, her hands yet gripping those of her sister almost absentmindedly.
"What did you say?" she breathed, unable to either believe or accept this.
"He's still back there," Will said in response, "He fell behind."
Numb with shock, Leah merely stood there as Will helped Elizabeth towards the stairs below deck and Mr. Gibbs and Anamaria got the crew back to work.
"Leah," a voice beckoned, her sister's voice, and she turned to face it almost unwillingly, hair blowing in the slight breeze. Then, without comment, she followed.
Why do I care? Leah Swann thought to herself in a meditative silence, witting in a chair almost perpendicular to both Will and Elizabeth, her sister to her right, the blacksmith to her left. And how could I have not noticed?
"What sort of a man trades a man's life for a ship?" Elizabeth demanded, wrapping a bandage furiously over the gash on her palm. It was a good question, Leah thought. A good question indeed. And why had she not figured Jack Sparrow to be the type of man to do so?
"A pirate," Will replied as Leah stayed silent, and then reached out for Elizabeth's injured hand. "Here, let me."
Her eyes fixed firmly on the floor, Leah tried desperately to piece all of this together. The three of them had all given their own distinct details of the events of the past three or so days, Leah of course leaving out the conversation she'd had with Jack and the promise he'd made her that night in Tortuga. That was simply one of those things she was not willing to share yet, one that she still did not even fully understand. How could she have been so wrong about the captain, that particular pirate? How could she have missed so much? Planning to trade Will for a bloody ship? Had he ever even planned on helping them rescue Elizabeth in the first place? Had he simply been planning on betraying them all along? And what had his offer to allow her to come with him and be a pirate been? Had it all been an exceptionally amusing farce for him, a little game to keep boredom at bay?
Then there were all the little details of Elizabeth's story. The crew actually being cursed, she couldn't fully believe it, even if she knew her sister was not the sort of person to lie about such things. She would have no need to, anyway. Where would it get her saying that the entire crew of the Black Pearl was undead? Anyone she told the story to would think her mad if they didn't know her half as well as Leah did. And her giving William's last name as her own, her lying about being a maid in the governor's household… Leah had a sneaking suspicious as to why, had a sneaking suspicion as to just what that Aztec gold Barbosa had been referring to way. She'd been there the day they'd rescued Will, not that much younger than Elizabeth herself, and had seen her sister take that pirate medallion and hide it from the adults on board. She'd been sworn to secrecy about it by her older and supposedly wiser sibling, and hadn't breathed a word of the gold since, had even forgotten about it at times, but it always came back to her. And now, she remembered that day in full force, and understood something about just why Elizabeth's blood had not worked. If it was Will's medallion, then his father must have been a pirate on the Pearl.
But those concerns were not even what dominated the majority of her thoughts. What did was this: Why did she care? If Jack Sparrow had been such a scoundrel as to be willing to trade Will for a bloody boat, shouldn't she be happy that the bastard was dead? He deserved it! Yet some part of her refused to believe that he was capable of such a thing. Some part of her would not believe that he could be so inherently evil. Some part of her grieved. And she didn't understand why!
So her mind continued to muse over that eternal question as it continued to frustrate Leah more and more. Why the bloody hell did she care?
"Excuse me," she muttered just as Will began to wrap the bandage around Elizabeth's wound, standing up and moving to the stairs. She paid no heed to anything said to her, nor to any movements after her, if there were any, and began the march above deck. It haunted her, her grief. It confused her. Was she grieving for the future that could have been, one of freedom, away from Port Royale, one dead and gone now, ash? Was she upset over the almost certain demise of Captain Jack Sparrow? Was it a mixture of both? And if so… why?
The sight on the deck of the Interceptor afforded her comfort for the barest of moments before all hell broke loose, giving her no more time to think.
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Suzzie: lol Yes, I thought I was… Very glad it's confirmed! And if I have made any mistakes in dialogue, don't hesitate to tell me… You have no idea what a hassle it is to try to get every line perfect when the script you're working with is just a little, shall we say, flawed? I don't doubt I make the occasional mistake, and if you see one, thank you! *Hug* And yes, now that my rant is over… happy holidays! :P
TriGemini: Hehehe… Gee, I wonder what thy imagination is cooking up… And I wonder what Suzzie's is cooking up… I wonder what all of your imaginations are cooking up! And I'm afraid! Lol Yes, so thank you very much! Here's hoping ye like this chappie! (And even if you don't, I shan't be offended. Just tell moi. :P)
Ipzy: Wow! Glad you like it so much! And I have been a bit of a bad girl in the updating department lately, but I'm still doing it! I think this could be one of the only stories of mine which I actually will FINISH one day (though I do have ideas for a sequel… *shifty eyes*). And ye like cookies? Here! *Gives her a big sack full of peanut butter cookies* Those are my fav, so I figure ye should like 'em. :D
Shane: lol Isn't it, though? I'm using it more and more after the redcoats use it at the end of pirates… And glad you like! :D
Orlis: You do? YAY!!!!! *Does a long fun dance about the bonfire, inviting any and all who want to join in to join in* With any luck, ye are enjoying this chappie to, eh?
Jesse: Hehehe… How'd ye know?
Leah: lol Wow, you're not looking forward to LONDON because of me story! It must be good then! (;) ) No, really, I hope ye've enjoyed thy trip (details!!! ;) ), and that you're enjoying this chapter.
Zuba: Yes, yes you shall. And remember… curiosity may have killed the cat, but it never killed us!
Jacks Whore: *Writes, writes, writes* Ye like?
Ourania: *Hands some milk to go along with it… wait, make that rum as well* Well, I'm not so sure about the updating… *Glances nervously to her "Captain Jill Sparrow" fanfic* And I actually got a review on that one, too… Um, anywayz… I'm very happy you like it so much!!! Yes, Leah was aching to get off the Interceptor and go after Jack and Will, but how was she to get off of the ship, and how would she go about matters after that? Hence, she stayed, and in this chappie, ye see the results of it… Tell moi what ya think!
Cherish: Whoopies! *Does a little dance* Good to have ye back! :D And I try to handle it realistically, as I personally believe all this stuff happens in some reality… And therefore to have her, a proper gentlewoman and the governor's daughter no matter how she detests it, pounce upon Sparrow like a Tortuga wench would be… unbelievable and would ruin one of these said realities, savvy? I have theories… I don't understand most of them myself… I even have loopholes on that particular one in me own mind, many of which contradict… So yeah, mesa shush on that now and just dwell on the fact that I'm doing something right. :P So thank ye for the review! Hoping I'm doing rest right as well! :P *Hands a pillow and the PotC soundtrack to her dear reviewer* Something to sleep on and to! G'night! (Though I'm guessing you've woken up by now. ;) )
My, Myself, and I: Yes, I don't tend to read those myself… *looks around warily waiting for the hypocrite remarks to come flying* Glad that my story caught thy attention! Hopefully, it shall continue to.
