A/N`: Lynch me, boil me, broil me, I deserve it all for waiting this long to update, but I'm really not to blame (too much, at least)!!! Here's what's happened: Midyear week at school was last week, and that was fine… Except then, during the weekend when I planned to type out the rest of me chappie, I ended up being over two people's houses (Kirie's, as that is what she goes by on here, and my bud Nicole's) until Sunday around 3 or 4. Then, no chance to type yet, as my father has bought a new computer, and even adds memory to the old one… But the old one now malfunctions, and my friend Juli begs me to go to Mass at the Church just to see her, and I'm bloody Jewish! My 2nd Mass THAT DAY, as the mother of Nicole (to study, mind you, and I DID study a bit! Really!) is fairly religious. So, the Mass ends, me studying for my last exam all the while, or trying to at least, and I'm wearing this awesome pair of boots I was given by Kirie, who got them from Nicole. Oh, they have 5-inch heels, by the by, and me, being the dunce I am, running down the stairs after Juli, my friend who made me go to Church in the first place and who is obsessed with CJS (who isn't, eh? ;) ), forget I'm wearing heels… I fall. I sprain my ankle. The next day, the computer still doesn't work. The new one doesn't have my fic on it. Next day, computer works, but I have hw. My ankle is killing me. This morning, I missed school. Couldn't walk. Got better later, but we went to the doctor instead of school. I have crutches now. I went here and finished this chappie as soon as I got home. Rant over. Excuses or actual reasons for updating late, y'all tell me. Yes, sorry bout that, but I needed to vent mates… Thanks for listening! :P *Hands out free Jack cardboard standups to anyone who actually read all that*
A/N2: Um, yes, short but sweet again, but I hope y'all enjoy! Tell me what you think!
***Special thanks to Pendragon for betaing. You rock!
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Taking a deep breath, Leah pushed her hair out of her face, wiping the tears off of her reddened cheeks. No one could tell, but she was blushing furiously, embarrassed of her outburst. Getting to her feet, she tried her best to look somewhat dignified, and pushed the caramel locks back once more, taking a last swipe at her cheeks. Still, she could not hide her bloodshot eyes, so she kept those relatively downcast, her face somewhat averted.
"Are you all right, Leah?" Will asked, his concern apparent. Besides that, he'd been just a little uncomfortable, and was glad she was somewhat better now…
"I-I'm fine, Will," she said, her voice hoarse as a direct result of her sobs. She was afraid that if she spoke, she would begin to cry once again, so, biting her lip, she said one last statement. "Just-just give me a moment t-to recover, all right?"
"Of course," he replied, looking away and giving her her space. Yes, Leah could certainly see why Elizabeth loved this man. He really was sweet.
After a few moments of deep breaths and nervous movements, Leah felt that she had composed herself enough to actually hold a dialogue with someone, albeit not a long one, and stepped forward to the bars, addressing Will again as her arms lay intertwined among the metal. "How much time has elapsed since… since we… since we were brought down here?" she asked him, having trouble finding the right words.
"I'm not certain," he admitted. "I lost track of the time."
"It's been a little over an hour, Miss Swann," Mr. Gibbs informed her from the cell opposite. At the reminder that an entire crew of pirates had seen her little breakdown, Leah blushed a fresh hue of scarlet.
"Thank you," she said, not meeting his gaze, nor the gaze of anyone else in the cell parallel her own. Why did she always have to function so calmly for such long periods of time, and then… just lose all composure? After a relatively small period of time had passed, Leah put another question to Mr. Gibbs. This one was not as… mindless, however. "What are they going to do to us?" she asked, her tone hushed, "At least, what would you suppose?"
"It's depends on how Barbossa's mood's fittin' him," Mr. Gibbs told her. "Whether it works with Will 'ere. Whatever he does do, though, it isn' goin' to be anythin' good."
"But he can't harm you. Him and Will have an agreement!" Leah pointed out.
"Aye, there's that…"
"But he can harm you still," Anamaria pointed out, all bluntness intact.
"Yes, I suppose he can," Leah murmured under her breath, looking down at the dirty boards making up the floor.
"Miss Sw-Leah, I'm sorry I worded it that way. If I'd know Barbossa-"
"Don't blame yourself, Will," Leah said firmly, cutting him off. "Barbossa is a wretched lying snake. It's not your fault at all."
Coldly, Leah, from her position up against the bars beside Will, watched the two pirates mop the floor. If that was how they did it, how they "swabbed the decks", she was really very glad she had not allowed herself to actually sit on that floor. A few hours had passed since her little outburst, and now, she was perfectly calm and collected, not allowing herself to grieve for the probable deaths of both her sister and Jack. No, hatred was sustaining her now, and if she were to surrender to sorrow… Yes, better stick with hatred.
"Shiver me timbers!" the parrot cawed out for all of them to hear.
"Cotton 'ere says you missed a bit," Mr. Gibbs "translated", a smile on his face. Leah couldn't help but smirk. The fact that the insulted man hit his mop against the bars of Mr. Gibbs's cell meant nothing. It still didn't change the fact that mopping must have been quite a degrading job, and for them to receive it… That comment of Mr. Gibbs's was really well worth the mop's collision with the bars.
"You knew William Turner?" Will asked the knave nearest him, the larger, more scraggily one, one with long gray hair and not fairly shot in height. Personally, Leah could not blame him at all for this question, even under the circumstances. If she had found out her father had been a pirate, had found out that other, fiendish pirates wanted her blood because of him… Well, she would be just a little curious on the matter herself. Besides that, she had never known one of her parents, either, though Will had known his father… for a time.
Pausing in the process of his renewed mopping, the man turned to face the blacksmith. "Ol' Bootstrap Bill …we knew him. Never sat well with Bootstrap what we did to Jack Sparrow. The mutiny and all." Leah truly hoped not. It would prove Will's father a very sadistic bastard indeed if it had "sat right" with him-consequently much like it did in regards to the present crew of the Pearl. And, what a surprise, this particular scoundrel seemed to be enjoying himself immensely while iterating this tale to "Ol' Bootstrap Bill's" son. "He said it wasn't right with the Code. That's why he sent off a piece of the treasure to you, as it were. "He said we deserved to be cursed… and remain cursed." No, he didn't seem to be enjoying himself now. If anything, the man looked angry.
"Stupid blighter," the skinny one-eyed one who had been mopping in the background cut in. Leah's azure eyes instinctively flicked to him, the harshest fire broiling in their cold depths, when Mr. Gibbs's next comment drew them away, drew them far more sympathetically to Will.
"Good man," Mr. Gibbs interrupted, correcting the pirate. After said man shot an angry glance in his direction, he continued as if Mr. Gibbs had never spoken at all.
"But as you can imagine, that didn't sit too well with the Captain."
"That didn't sit too well with the Captain at all," the taller one added, sniggering. Leah felt like throttling him. "Tell him what Barbossa did."
"I'm telling the story!" the other yelled, enraged. Mr. Lanky looked down and away, ashamed. Leah cocked an eyebrow at this little scene. This was utterly and completely pathetic. Nevertheless, he was "telling the story", she was just a tad eager for him to continue, not to mention what Will must have been feeling. "So, what the Captain did, he strapped a cannon to Bootstrap's bootstraps."
"Bootstrap's bootstraps," Lanky echoed.
"And last we saw of ol' Bill Turner, he was sinkin' to the crushing black oblivion of Davy Jones' locker." Swallowing, Leah glanced over at Will. This couldn't have been the news he'd wanted to hear, though she had to admit, it wasn't unexpected… The man wasn't done with his little monologue yet, though. "'Course it was only after that we learned we needed his blood to lift the curse."
"That's what you call ironic," Lanky said. Shorter and Fatter nodded his agreement as the two giggled together.
After casting one last glare their way, Leah turned to the young man next to her, the one whose thoughts were now most likely fixed on his father. "Will-" she began, but was cut off by footsteps coming their way. It was Barbossa.
"Bring him," the Captain ordered, throwing the teller of the tale the keys to the cell. "Leave the girl."
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Gwyn: Hehehe… Gwyn has her own little pirate, eh? Congrat's! *High-fives* And you're getting a Jack tattoo?!?! Allow me to say I hate you forever. ;-) And I really like the fact that you printed out Leah's depressed memories. I swear, this girl needs anti-depressants! Or perhaps just Jack… ;-) Till thy next review, bubbles FOREVER!!!! :D
Kirie: Don't be envious! Thou art far better than I can ever hope to be. *Leah eats the sandwich* I think she liked it… I want one!!!! *cries*
Riley: Hehehe… Well, ye'd get the rum whether you said I mutilated the personality or did it correctly, so enjoy! :D And it is a word… just spelled "ecstatically" :P. Don't worry, I can't spell either… And everyone calls me a blond… And I have brown hair! Lol Blondness fun! ;-) (No offense to any real blonds out there! Awesome hair color! Right on!) And I'm not worrying 'bout ya, dontcha worry. I'm just delighted that my fic is being enjoyed by people! Woot! Tell me what you think of this chappie, a slightly shorter one than usual.
Rebel: lol Don't worry. She has no way of killing herself at the moment. And take thy time in reading! I have patience. Some at least… :P
Leah: Well, he sorta
comforts her… This was what came to me. Hoping it wasn't a severe
disappointment! But trust me, we don't want to delve any more into her mind.
Quoting a button, "it's dark and scary in there!" ;-)
Shane: Yupperz! Personally, I don't think I could have lasted as long as
Leah did… At least, not without turning overly cynical and bitter… Hey, much
like Leah is… o.O
TriGem: Yes, he really does care about her, but how can he show it? I mean, he still mourns the mom, and him telling her he doesn't blame her-doubt he'd ever do that under normal circumstances, at least not in a sitting down, calmly, no outburst, real close family talk kind of way-really won't do any good. I doubt she'd believe him, even… A family talk would be good, but when do people actually talk it out? Leah really is too bloody stubborn! And her father too bloody upright and… well… ignorant of his daughter's emotions. They need to be locked in a room for a month. Hey, idea… ;-)
Vagrant: Ooh, thankies! Enjoy thy rum! And everyone hates her? o.O I never knew that… Personally, I love the girl.
Pendragon: lol Yes, hasn't she had just the ideal life? And yes, this one is just a tad bit different where length is concerned, but I think it's fairly decent. Don't worry, it does pick up. Till thy next review! ;-) Ah yes, one last thing that I must say yet again. Thankees for betaing! *Gives Jack RUM now, not just cookies*
Suzzie: lol Yes, but hey, Leah's a stubborn girl with stores of stubborn bravery! Lol And thankees! I was never even planning on writing it when I started the fic, but it came to me… Dontcha love it when the muse works overtime? :P
aquastar: Hehehe… yes, backstory fun! And patience, girl! Romance is a comin', though not sure if it's what thou art expecting… Wanna find out what I mean? Read on and enjoy, young grasshopper! ;-) J
Tara: Well, since this chappie length is just a tad bit shorter, I'm hoping it's still enjoyable. :P Tell moi what ya think of the latest update! And here's hoping that patience has held out, since I've been so horrible at updating…
Ipzy: It's all right! Sounds fun! Where didst thou go? And I'm guessing this was a nice unexpected twist then, eh? Or perhaps not so nice. ;-) Thank ye for reviewing, though!!!! *Huggles* Watcha think of the latest update?
Sarra: Wow, ye read all 17 chapters? *blink blink* Bloody honored you liked it so much as to do so! Thankees! And thankees for all thy compliments! *blushes a bright scarlet* So, what did ye think of this latest chappie?
AngelQueen: Hehehe. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for her, eh? ;-) Fun! No, really, I'm glad you like! And without any further delay, here's the latest chapter!
