Hey guys! Wow look at this! Two updates in one day! I'm doin good!

Chapter 12: One Thing Left to Live For

Kay stepped out of the shop, her purchases under one arm as she started to thread her way through the people in the street, heading for the blacksmith's shop. They had reached port earlier today, and Elizabeth had announced her decision to take Kay home with her. She knew the girl had no where to go, and she didn't want to see her new friend living in the street. When they had reached the mansion, Elizabeth had given Kay some money and told her to go but some clothes. But she had really been trying to get Kay out of the house, figuring the girl needed some time alone. But it also gave Kay the perfect excuse to go see Will.
She slipped into the blacksmith shop to find Will already working on his next sword. Mr. Brown was sitting in his chair, passed out drunk again. Kay wondered if he had known that Will was gone. Will glanced up and saw Kay, smiling slightly as he put aside the sword. Kay dropped her purchases on another chair and walked over to him.
"Let's get you set up," Will said. He looked her over appraisingly, then walked over to one of the sword racks and made a selection. "Try this one out," he called to Kay and tossed it over to her. Kay caught in one handed, and Will raised an eyebrow, nodding approvingly. The girl had great reflexes.
Kay drew the sword from its sheath, which she tossed on top of the things she had bought earlier, then began to go through some warm up exercises that she remembered from fencing class. She became completely absorbed in her task, and was therefore startled when Will blocked one of her strokes with a sword of his own.
Kay fell back into a 'ready' stance, and Will followed suit. They waited for a moment, then began to attack. Will was surprised with how fast Kay was. She had admitted that she had taken fencing before, but that she had stopped after she got out of college, which had been about four years ago. For someone who hadn't practiced in so long, she was remembering quickly.
They practiced a while longer, then Will called a halt. Kay slipped her sword back into its sheath as Will pulled over two more chairs. Kay gratefully sank into one. She was a little tired, because she hadn't practiced in so long, but she was in good shape from her constant workouts and figured that a few minutes to sit down would be all she needed.
In the meantime she pulled over some of the things she had bought. A skirt and a shirt, then some sewing supplies. Will walked over, then raised his eyes when he saw what she was holding. Kay glanced up.
"I figure it's best if I don't make what we're planning obvious. I'm going to make up this outfit so that all I have to do is tug open some strings, and it'll fall off." Will looked apprehensive, and Kay laughed. "I'll be wearing pants and a shirt under it, but this will hide the fact that I'm wearing a sword." Will was impressed. That was actually a very good idea. He watched for a few minutes as Kay began to work on her outfit.
"Kay, are you sure that you want to do this?" he asked suddenly. Kay looked up at him, startled at the question. "You know we're probably not going to accomplish more than to be hung ourselves tomorrow. Why don't you let me do this. You don't need to be facing the hangman's noose." He pleaded.
Kay took a breath, chewing on her lip. "Will," she said. "You haven't known me that long. About a week, right?" Will nodded, confused. "You know where, and when, I come from." Will nodded again. "What you don't know is what my life was like before this. When I was sixteen my parents died. Then over a couple of years I lost the three friends I made, and the only boyfriend I ever had. I lost everything I ever had to live for. When I got here, I found something to live for, after I had given up every hope of finding it again. I'm about to lose that, and if I do I'll lose the one thing that had made my life worth living. If I don't die by the hangman's noose I'll die of misery. And the former is quicker. So, thank you for the offer, but I'm going to fight along side you tomorrow."
Will stared at Kay in shock. The quiet determination in the girl's voice had him stunned silent. He had no doubt that she meant what she said. He was brooding on it when Kay broke the silence.
"So what about you? Did you find out what happened to your father?" Will glanced at her again, then nodded.
"After he sent me a piece of the gold, Barbossa threw him over the side of the ship with a cannon tied to his boots," he said bitterly. Kay looked thoughtful for a minute.
"He wouldn't be dead then," she said. Will looked at her in surprise. "Well, if he had taken a piece of the gold, then he would have been cursed too, and therefore wouldn't have died when he was dropped into the depths. All he would have to do is walk to the nearest piece of inhabited land." Will hadn't thought of that. But it sounded really sensible. It just might be true.
Kay worked on her skirt for another few minutes when Will decided that he couldn't take the silence. "C'mon," he said standing up. "Let's get in some more practice."

Kay sat up later that night in the room Elizabeth had given her, finishing work on her outfit. When she was finished she put it on over her regular clothes. She examined her reflection critically in the mirror. No one would be able to tell she was wearing a sword, and the skirt fell long enough to hide her pants. She wasn't going to be able to hide her boots, but she hadn't gotten any new shoes so that hardly mattered.
She gave a hard tug on a carefully concealed string, and she was able to pull off her skirt, then gave another tug on a string on the back of her skirt and that came off just as easily. She had the entire outfit off in about 7 seconds.
Kay smiled humorlessly at her reflection. She had been telling the truth to Will before. If Jack died tomorrow she would have no reason to live. She had just gained that reason and she was not about to let it get snatched away from her. This was an act of desperation, but then she was a desperate person.
Her reflections were broken by a yawn. Kay changed quickly into the nightgown that she had bought. She would need all her wits about her tomorrow, she couldn't afford to weariness slow her reactions. She slipped into a bed after a last look in the mirror, still amazed at how different a woman she was from the woman who had first arrived, shaken and shell shocked on the Port Royal docks just a week gone.

Okay I know this is really short, but I wanted to end it before the whole fight scene the next day. I promise that that will be a longer chapter. Anyway, the cookies are still here.

Dragon: (crunch)

Me: Well, mostly anyway. So read and review!