AN:  Yay!  Another chapter is up!  Sorry it took so long, but I had to write it, and then I got hooked writing the next chapter for Ashes to Ashes, so I kinda didn't get a chance to update when I would've liked to!  But, nevertheless, here it is and I hope you like it!

Please note!  There is an important note at the end of the chapter!  Please read it!

"Not all who wander are lost."

~J.R.R. Tolkein

Silver and Gold

Chapter Five:  Decisions

Lor stood silently in front of the large picture window in the Commodore's office.  Her eyes scanned the empty clearing below them.  The wooden gallows stood silently in the courtyard, the two heavy nooses swaying slightly in the soft breeze.  "How is it," she began, her eyes still surveying the empty courtyard, "that you believe that I am your granddaughter?"

Jeremy looked up at her from his seat.  His soft, brown eyes gazed up into her hard, gold eyes.  He sighed.  "Your father," he paused, "my son, has written to me since he left my home in England to be a pirate.  He has told me of his exploits, his adventures.  He told me of becoming a captain of his own ship.  I read all of his letters.  I have kept them all safe, safe from prying eyes.

"He told me of his marriage to your mother, Aeryn," he paused again, his eyes betraying his emotions.  "The last letter I received from him told of the birth of his daughter, Lor, and the death of his wife.  After that, I received no news of him save for what I was told by naval officers."

"You had no contact with him after I was born?"

"No, I did not," he replied softly.

"And you loved him even though he became a pirate?"

"Of course I did.  He is my son," he replied, answering as if it were obvious.

Lor glanced to her right, gazing at the thick wooden door that she knew two guards stood outside of, making sure that she did not try to escape.  "Then it will pain you to learn that he is dead."

Jeremy's eyes widened.  "Dead?  When?  How?"

"Two years ago.  A man by the name of Skinner Monroe mutinied against him, killing my father and his crew."

Jeremy's eyes softened, pain entering into them immediately.  He placed his head in his old, wrinkled hands, his shoulders sagging sullenly.  Lor's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at the grief stricken man as he fought back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.  Having lost her crew and her ship, she knew how he felt.  She felt the same pain that he did.  "You need not worry, though, my father has been avenged."

Jeremy's head jerked up at her words.  "How so?"

"I killed Skinner two years ago."

Lor watched as his eyes flinched.  "I see," he said slowly.

"Does it pain you, my lord," she said, a smirk crossing her face, "to know that your granddaughter has taken a life, of perhaps many lives?"

"A little, yes," he replied.  "But not as much as it would other members of our family.  Your grandmother, for instance."

Lor laughed softly.  "My father was a good man, sir, but he taught me everything he knew, including his skills with a sword and pistol."

"Yes, he was very skilled.  The best in our family, in fact."

Lor reached up slowly to rub the scar on her shoulder as a slight pain echoed through her arm.  Jeremy stood up slowly and made his way to her side.  He lifted his arm, his fingers pushing aside the flap of her vest to reveal the healed wound.  "Where did you get this?" he whispered.

Lor looked up into his eyes, asking herself if she really trusted him enough to tell the truth.  A dozen thoughts and lies flew through her mind as she decided on what she wanted to tell him.  She could boast proudly that she had received it in battle.  But then another part of her told her to tell the truth, to tell him that she had been tortured in a moment of weakness by the same man that had tortured and killed her father.

"I was too weak to stop Skinner from torturing me," she replied, shrugging.

"No.  It takes a great amount of strength to survive something like this, my dear," Jeremy said quietly.  "Torture would destroy a weaker person."

Lor's eyes narrowed slightly.  "What is it that you want, Lord Adams?"

Jeremy stepped back from her slowly, sitting back down in the chair that he had previously been occupying.  "I would like you to come back with me."

"Go back where?"

"To England."

Lor's eyes narrowed further.  "I'm sorry?"

"You have no family left in the Caribbean, correct?"

Lor was silent, her thoughts flashing to Jack and the crew of the Black Pearl.  "No," she said, shaking her head slightly, "I don't.  My crew was the last of my family."

"So the only family you have left is in England, correct?"

Lor cocked her head to one side, a question evident in her eyes.  "Aye," she answered.  "But it's a family that I don't know."

"Yes, but you do know me," Jeremy answered back.

"Hardly, Lord Adams.  Saving me from the noose does not count as knowing me."

"And yet we are all that you have left."

"What's in it for me?"

Jeremy was silent for a moment as he considered her words.  He wanted to get to know his granddaughter, this woman who seemed so strong to him.  "I can clear any charges against the Crown."

Lor's eyebrows rose slightly as she gave a short, sarcastic laugh.  "I care not about the charges against me," she said.  As Jeremy gazed up at her, an odd look in his eyes, she continued, "The charges against my friends, however, even against Norrington, I do care about."

Jeremy gave a small nod.  "Very well.  The charges against Commodore Norrington and Mr. Turner will be dropped.  The charges against Captain Sparrow, however. . ."

Lor held up a hand, silencing him.  "Jack wouldn't want the charges against him dropped," she said, smiling.  "I think he takes pride in his crimes."

Jeremy nodded, smiling slightly.  "I see.  So what is your answer?"

Lor shook her head.  "I can't give my answer yet.  I need to talk to someone first."

* * * * * * *

Lor walked quietly into the spare room that she and Jack shared in the Turner household.  Jack sat on the end of the bed, his long, white shirt un-tucked and hanging open across his chest.  She gave him a sad smile as she walked up to him.  "Jack?" she said softly, stopping just in front of him.

"Eh?"

"Jack we need to talk."

"Your grandfather, lass, let us out of jail, saying something about a deal you two made," he replied, grabbing hold of her hands and pulling her on top of him.

Lor sat on his lap, her legs spread out around his, her hands still held tightly in his.  "We didn't make a deal, love, he offered to take me back to England with him."

Jack was silent, staring up into her soft, gold eyes.  She gazed down at him, trying to read his expressionless face.  She gained no knowledge of what he thought by trying to read his face, although his eyes conveyed his feelings.  His eyes flickered with unrevealed shock.  "And what did you decide?"

"I didn't," she replied.  "I told him I needed to talk to you."

"Uh huh, and now that you have, what is your decision?"

"I don't know Jack!  I was hoping you could help me."

"I can't make this decision for you, love.  You have to make it fer yerself," he said.

"Jack, this decision involves both of. . ."

Jack kissed her roughly, stopping the flow of her words.  His hands tangled themselves in her hair, making sure to keep their lips connected.  He broke away from her minutes later, leaving them both breathless.  He moved his mouth to her ear, his hands gripping more of her long, wild strands.  He kissed her ear softly and then whispered, "Go, Lor.  If you believe nothing is left for you here, then go."

Lor turned her head to the side, catching his lips with hers.  She leaned against him slightly, pushing her weight up against his chest, making them both fall back onto the bed.  She kissed him roughly, hiding her face among her fallen hair, attempting to hide the tears that slowly trailed down her cheeks.

* * * * * * *

Lor sat stiffly in the tall backed chair that stood in the Governor's drawing room.  Despite the comfortable nature of the cushions, her tense muscles refused to allow her to relax.  She tugged at the long ponytail that she wore at the back of her neck and then pulled at the sleeve of her vest, attempting to hide the large scar that she bore.

Lor's heart started to pound slightly at the sound of footsteps on the marble floor.  Jeremy Adams entered the small room, a smile forming on his kind, wrinkled face as he saw her.  Behind him followed the boy she knew to be Tyler.  "It is good to see you again, my dear," Jeremy said softly.

Lor stood up quickly.  "Aye, sir, you as well," she paused slightly, her eyes closing for a moment as she took a deep breath.  "I have given thought to your offer, my lord."

Jeremy's eyes brightened at her words.  "And your answer?"

Lor took another deep breath, steadying what few nerves she had left.  Her thoughts flew to Jack, sleeping peacefully in the bed that she had left him in from the night before.  "I have decided to accept."

Next: Chapter 6:  Good-byes.  Tensions flare as Lor tells Jack her decision to leave.  What will he do?  Will he try to change her mind, or will he let her leave?

Please note!  Before I can post the next chapter, I need to know how long it takes to get from Port Royal to England!  I cannot post it until I find out!  So please help!

MarsMoonStar:  I am glad that you liked it!  I was hoping that it would go over well, what with Jeremy, or rather Lord Jeremy Adams, being her grandfather without anyone, including her, knowing it.

DaydreamBeliever14:  I'm glad that you thought it was a good cliffhanger.   I seem to like doing things like that in my stories.  And then I make you wait for the next one. . . I am so evil.

PineAppleLint:  I wondered where you had got off to.  I'm thankful that you have been such an avid reader and I'm glad that you liked the twists in the plot!  I thought they were pretty good too.

Dawnie-7:  I'm happy that you liked the chapter.  I was hoping you would like the twist as well, they're just so fun to put into stories!

Sparrow's Pearl:  Wow.  I'm so glad that you like my story!  And I'm thankful that you liked Sui Generis as well.  It did seem kind of unbelievable that she would just drop in on him, but I thought I would add a little bit of humor into it, and I couldn't think of any other way for them to meet up again.  And as to what she wore, I thought that the glove was a little bit more like Barbossa's, what with the cut out fingers.  But, hmmm, the rest of them, I don't think she was trying to imitate Jack, I think it was more along the lines of my subconscious mind putting them in there!  Yes!  That was a George of the Jungle reference!  I'm so happy that someone noticed that!  I hope you like the rest!

Silmarwen:  Thank you very much!

Elentari II:   Yes, I left you with a cliffhanger in the last chapter, so you must hate me for leaving you with another one!  I thank you for thinking this is a great story and I'll try to write more as quickly as I can!