"Man overboard!" An aged fisherman cried as he spied a body floating on a broken beam. But before any of the other fishers could even get a look at what it was, the youngest member of the boat had dived into the crashing sapphire waves. The morning sun shining, it's heat beating down on the water, arousing the scent of salt into the air. The boy came back up drenched and breathing deeply, in one arm he held the rope that he used to haul himself back aboard with, in the other he held a tight grip on the slender form. Crashing onto the deck he cradled the body into his arms and smoothed the long tangled mess of hair away from the face, only to reveal the face of a beautiful young girl. "What is it?" One fisherman asked.

"The catch of the day, he's found himself a girl." Another said.

"That's my boy!" Piped another. And as he pushed back the remaining strands from her face he felt an affinity with the girl though he wasn't sure that he'd ever met any one so beautiful in all his19 years. A glint of reflected sun distracted him from her face, looking down he found a gold locket with rubies that circled the edges of the locket and a bazaar design of rubies interweaving with the chain that was twisted like vines up to the middle of each side.

"What have you got here?" He said picking up the locket when he had noticed that all the other fishermen had gone back to mending their nets. "This trinket here is almost as beautiful as you... almost." Staring at the emblem on the front of the locket he remembered seeing the emblem else where, but where he had previously seen it he couldn't remember. Suddenly her hand shot up and grabbed the jewel.

"Who are you?! What am I doing here? Ah." She said before feeling a pain reverberate in her head, standing up and stepping away from her rescuer she stumbled.

"Don't move about so quickly. You've suffered something nasty, I suspect. Found ya floating on a piece of wood. You're the guest aboard the Bertha, only the greatest fisher's ship in all the Caribbean. I'm... Landon West, may I be so bold as to ask who you are?" He said as he stood.

"West did you say? That name... it sounds familiar. You wouldn't happen to be related to a James West?" She asked still confused about the events from the night before. But she noticed that the carefree and positive gleam in his eyes disappeared at the mention of James West.

"He's dead." He mumbled quickly.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I met him a few times. By chance, you could say, a second time not so long ago... a few years back I believe. What happened to him?"

"Heartbreak, he found the girl of his dreams and she exiled herself from Port Langly. She was a pirate, saved his life... twice if you can imagine." Her heart sank; she had killed him, if not by blade or bullet not even by cruel words. She killed him because he loved her and she didn't even see it. "She gave him this here key, which he passed to me before he finally gave in to the heartache."

"I killed them, all of them. All my fault..." She whispered to herself.

"What's that you're saying? I didn't quite hear you." He said as her head shot up.

"Nothing, it's nothing. Tell me, what is the your next destination?" She asked eagerly. "I don't wish to burden you with my company for any longer than is needed."

"Port Royal is where we sell our catch. It's the only place we deliver to." He said as her eyes widened with joy.

"Port Royal!" She exclaimed, joy over taking her, she hugged the boy. "I'm going home! I'm finally going home, I have some family in Port Royal. Oh, it's finally happening!"

"With your permission, miss. May I request to accompany you, or rather escort you home? Just to make sure that you arrive safely. We should be docking within the hour. This seems to be your first time in the Port Royal, am I correct?" He asked shyly.

"Truly the request of a gentleman. 'Tis true this is my first time in Port Royal, I'm very excited. I've never had an escort for anything before."

"I don't believe I caught your name?"

"Oh... it's, uh, Rowena." She said thinking she had heard some of the older shipmates listening in.

"Just Rowena? There's nothin more to that name?" He asked curiously.

"Not all pirates need or know a last name."

"So you're a pirate then. You wouldn't have ever happened to meet Jezebel Turner?" Asked the young hopeful.

"Ah, the supposed leader of the new era of piracy... A very long time ago." She said as she turned around only to get her first view of Port Royal. She stood dumbstruck, after having her breath ripped from her lungs she collapsed into the boy's arms.

"Careful now, miss. Can't have you fainting left and right on your way home." He said as he caught her in his strong tanned arms.

"If it's alright, I'd like to stop by a friends house first." She asked.

"As you wish, m'lady." He said as she pushed herself away from him.

"I'm no lady, please call me Rowena." She grumbled as she walked off towards the makeshift ramp that the other members of the crew exited from. The boy not far behind, she'd met him before and she knew it, something told her that it was James, but another part of her was reminded that he was dead. "Excuse me, Mr. Dock keeper, you wouldn't happen to know where an Elizabeth S—Turner might reside?"

"Why, in the same mansion she's always resided in of course. It's the largest one here." He said as he pointed to the large building that peeked over the whole scene of the town.

"Thank you sir." She said as she handed him a shilling that she had stolen from his own pocket when he wasn't looking.

"So you've met Jezebel once... a very long time ago, and yet you come here to see her mother?" He asked as he walked down the cobble stone street like he had so many times before, watching the girl beside him curiously, watching as she stared wide eyed at every little thing.

"That's the Smithy that her father worked in before he became a pirate... isn't it?" She asked pointing to the little store that was tucked snuggly between other buildings. "I have some rather grave news to report to her, the Black Pearl was recently destroyed in a storm, all were killed who were on board. William Turner was one of them." She said with deep sorrow etched in her eyes.

"Then Jezebel was also among them? I cannot believe this, she wasn't supposed to die," He said stopping next at wall that he leaned on. "She said we'd meet again; She promised, she gave this to me as she told me that we would be together again." But Jezebel Cough, I mean Rowena didn't hear him, she was still marveling at the small door to the blacksmith shop, tears forming at her eyes.

"We cannot stay here any longer," She said as she turned back to the boy. "I fear we are being followed."

So on they went, heartache tearing at both of their hearts; but hope remained in only one of them. At last they reached the majestic mansion that stood tall on the hillside. Laying her hand on the smooth surface of the gates she pushed them forward, only to have her hand smacked down by the blunt of a sword.

"What business do you have with the governor and his daughter?" Said the woman, though she was dressed like an old widow her face looked like that of a young woman in the prime of her youth.

"I wish to speak with the lady Turner, on the matters of her husband and daughter."

"And him?" She asked pointing her sword at the young man.

"My escort and rescuer. Perfectly harmless one he is, I hold no bitterness for any but Blackbeard and Barbosa." She remarked coolly. The lady lowered her sword and motioned for them to follow her. Jezebel marveled at the grounds, all this could've been hers. "If it's not too bold, may I ask who you are?"

"I..." She said as she turned to face the two again, "am Elizabeth Turner." Jezebel's face flushed as she gasped, hardly able to conceal her reaction. "Are you alright child."

"Yes," She whispered, almost inaudibly, looking about her suspiciously. "Let's carry on this conversation inside, I fear that there are some unwelcome ears listening in."

"Now, what is it that I can help you with. Please forgive my outburst at the gates. One can never be too careful these days." She said as she sat up straight on the edge of her seat.

"I bring ill news from the Pearl... concerning your family. There was a storm, a bad one, everyone aboard was killed, save for Jezebel. But when the realization that she was alone finally hit her... death came to her as well. I am terribly sorry to be the one to tell you all this." The girl said sadly, biting her lip as she finished.

"And how is it that you have discovered these things to be true?" She said in a burst of desperation.

"Because I died too that night. Because I died when I realized my crew and father were trapped below and I wasn't, that's how I know mother." She cried, unable to conceal her true identity any longer. Her words seemed to physically slap the woman across the face, and she, too, began to cry. It wasn't until then that James finally realized his pirate love was the girl he had rescued.

"Jezebel... so it is you. Why did you say your name was Rowena?" The boy asked with both suspicion and overwhelming joy in his features.

"One can never be too careful these days. I didn't know if I could trust you, or your crew. But in the streets, when I told you about the shipwreck I knew that it was you James. I could see it in your eyes, the heartbreak." She said, looking at him, when suddenly something behind him caught her eye. I speck of white sticking out from the bottom of the mounted swords above the mantle.

"I thought you were already dead. At the beginning I was so sure that you would both return, but then, as time wore on I began to loose hope. At some point in time I just gave up and took up the life of a widow. You and your father even have gravestones in the cemetery." Elizabeth said, eyes welling up with tears that had gone unshed over the years. Taking her mother's hands Jezebel tried to comfort her.

"In a way I am dead. Father told me that I would never know defeat or loss, I lost him; and there is no greater defeat than that. As far as I can see it, this prophecy that ripped me away from you has already failed. Let Blackbeard rule the seas of this cursed Spanish Main, let him take and pillage and plunder. I wash my hands of it, all of it. In loosing father, I lost all desires to be with the sea. Let Barbosa take back whatever remains of the Pearl." She said as James stared at his love with shock. The girl that once had a fire in her eyes now only had the smoking ebb of ashes. Her passion had been smoldered by her grief; she was drowned in her losses.

"What about Barbosa? He died before you were born. So how could you say anything about him as if he were still alive?" Elizabeth asked dazed and confused.

"Because he's not dead. The monkey brought him back, and now he's after the Turner bloodline. He said he had only begun with Bootstrap, and that he would get me someday... once he reclaims the Pearl; but even that lies at the bottom of Davey Jones Locker." Jezebel said in one last huff of exhaustion, at this point James couldn't take any more.

"That can't be the same Jezebel Turner I know. The one that I fell in love with when I was younger, she would never have given up on anything. Nor would she ever sulk over anyone's death, she would use the death of a loved one as incentive to kill any who stood in her way... you can't just give in Jezebel, Blackbeard will still come after you. He doesn't care if you back out of who you are or not, he's still out there looking to kill you." He exclaimed.

"But what good does any of it do if I don't have a ship?" She asked wearily, eyes fixed on the view from outside the window.

"You've got The Jezebel; the ship given to you at birth. Surely you've not forgotten it, you carry its symbol 'round your neck." He cried, pointing at the locket.

"I remember this trinket," Elizabeth said as she picked up the locket. "But it never had any rubies on it. It had always been a plain gold locket, when did you add them to it?" She asked her daughter who still knelt on the floor beside her. Examining it herself Jezebel grew just as, if not more, confused as her mother.

"It didn't have rubies on it. Father gave it to me just the other night, the night before the storm. I remember cutting my hand on it, but I don't remember any jewels on it. How very strange, and it's just on the edges of the locket... right were it dug into my hand." She said as she examined the locket. Huffing in frustration she threw down the trinket. "Blackbeard is here, I know he is. I can't give up on who I am; you're right James. It's what father would've wanted, for me to go down fighting. But he's probably watching the Jezebel, waiting for me to return to it, there must be a way to get to the ship without him finding out..."

"He'll be expecting a pirate you know," Elizabeth said, her daughter absentmindedly nodding; caught up in thinking of a way to get around Blackbeard. "But what if instead we gave him a lady?"

"Why do I get the idea that I'm not going to like this at all?" she said looking back at her mother, whose eyebrows were both raised with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Of course it would have to wait 'til morning, it's getting rather late. You must be terribly hungry; I'll have someone bring you some food. Wait here." She said before running off. Leaving the two in the large hall. Jezebel found this to be her chance to get a closer look at the mounted swords, but the closer she got to them the more she noticed that there was a piece of paper behind them. She barley touched it before it fell from its hiding place.

"What's this?" she whispered while opening it. A map ripped right down the middle. "What's... La Isle De Sangre? What a strange name for an island. Sounds like an adventure waiting to happen." She said before stuffing it in a pocket and walking back to James and her mother, who was just returning from the other room.

"You'll stay here tonight, we'll leave just after dawn." She stopped for a moment, caught in a daze while looking upon her child for the first time in years. "You look so much like your father."

"Funny, he always said I looked just like you." As a server dressed rather uncomfortably rushed in with trays covered in food. Looking at her mother she was drawn to the pearl ring on her finger. 'Wha's this? I'm not big on material treasure.' "That's a lovely ring you got there, mother."

"Oh, this? It was given to me so that when we were finally reunited I could give it to you. I belonged to the Queen Jezebel of the Caribbean Mer- kingdom, herself. She's got an awful lot in mind for you, many plans. Hasn't told anyone though, the only person that's ever come to Port Royal that's ever met her was Captain Sparrow." She said as she removed the trinket from her finger and placed it in her daughters hand.

"What's with all these trinkets falling into my possession as of late? Are they supposed to make up for everything that's been stolen from me in my life? Because it's really not workin. What happens next? Where do I go now?" She asked wearily, the sea breeze the came floating in seemed to lull her and her eyes began to droop.

"Well, at a guess, to bed. You look exhausted! Come, I'll show you to your rooms. I had Estrella set up the guest rooms for you. Jezebel, there will be some clothes laid out for you in the morning..." Elizabeth pulled the tired young pirates towards the stairs, but stopped abruptly at the first step. "But I'm guessing a nice hot bath would be nice before any of that, wouldn't you agree?"

"As long as I get my rags back after we claim my ship. I must admit that I am a tired, what about you, James?" looking back with nearly shut eyes she spied a cloudy figure that simply seemed to be facing her, but his voice was still as sharp and entrancing as ever.

"I'm afraid she might fall asleep in the tub. But I do suppose I myself smell a bit...fishy."

Both Elizabeth and her daughter laughed quietly, one of the first things Jezebel fell witness to in her likenesses with her mother. "We both laugh quietly."

"What's that Jezebel?" her mother asked.

"Oh, nothin, I just...used to ask the crew what you were like and if there was anything we had in common. But I'd never believed that what they said was true."

"Oh what did they say?"

"That I was the daughter of a pirate and an angel, and that it shows in my actions and such." Elizabeth beamed at the girl, her daughter was finally home.

LATER THAT NIGHT...

Unable to sleep, Jezebel tossed on her clean floral robe over her sleeping gown. It felt strange to be wearing new and clean clothes. But a good kind of clean, like an extra ounce or two of energy. Walking to her open window she noticed there was a small balcony, upon walking out onto it she gazed upon a breath-taking view of the Port. But a chill ran down her spine, causing her to wrap her robe around herself a little tighter.

"A perfect night for a bit of a stroll." She said to herself while walking back through her room and out the door. But before she left she saw a candle barely lighting the room in which she found the ripped map, the door was opened a bit, so she leaned forward and strained her ears to listen in on what was being said.

"She's here... she's finally here, my baby. But I know what that means... it means that you are gone, my beloved. You're too far gone for me to ever reach you again. But I have this part of you, it's also part of me but she's mostly you, Will. She has your eyes and your defiant chin... but most importantly your smile. What is there of me in the girl? She doesn't want the life of a noble, I can see it in her eyes... your eyes, but how can I let her go? She's all I have left of you." Elizabeth cried in her corner, cradling a large brown hat with a ridiculously large feather. Jezebel quickly wiped a tear from her cheek, oh how she wanted to go and console her mother.

"I miss him, too, mum. I miss him, too." She whispered softly. Another second and she was gone and out the door.

With the mansion behind her the sea air lead her quietly to the old docks, covered on it's underside with barnacles and mold and chunks of salt that had formed in the years since their creation. But when she neared the Fort she stalled, someone was watching her.

"Hello? Is some one out there?" She called, quite loudly.

A strange man came forward from the shadows, she wasn't afraid of him, of course, but any normal noble girl would be so she played along.

"It's not safe for such a lovely young'n to be wandering this closely to the water at night. Is m'lady lost perhaps?" He said inching towards her slowly, like he had some gross intensions in mind. Little did he know that within the folds of her robe, her sword hung patiently, ready for use. After taking one more step she surprised the dirty man with the clean flash of her blade.

"Another step and I'll run you through!" She hissed as a soldier ran out in front of her, who had not noticed the ready sword in her grasp.

"Madame, is this scoundrel disturbing you?" He said calmly with an air of military haughtiness.

"Yes...but I could well enough manage..." was what she attempted to say, but the man, not seeing that she could well enough defend herself took action.

"Sir, you will apologize to the lady... now, sir!" he said it so quickly that even Jezebel jumped a bit.

"Apologies miss."

"Now," he commanded as another soldier entered the scene. "Gillette, reward this man with some lovely irons, and then escort the gentleman to the jail."

"Yes, sir." Gillette piped as he left with the prisoner. Jezebel took her opportunity to return her weapon to the inside of her robe while the soldiers still weren't looking at her.

"My sincerest apologies miss, but if it's not too bold, may I ask why you wonder our streets so late?"

"Oh," she bubbled, giving her best imitation of her mother, "Just, I couldn't sleep. I wasn't aware that the streets weren't as safe in the night as they were in the day. I'm new here in Port Royal and I..."

"Oh, who are you staying with?" he said light-heartedly. "In the governor's household, with my m—friend Elizabeth."

"Your friend? Oh, how absolutely rude of me, I'm James Norrington, Commodore James Norrington. A family friend to Mrs. Turner. I don't believe I caught your name, Miss..."

"Oh, Commodore, hmm, I suppose I could trust you. I'm Jezebel Katrine Turner, Elizabeth's daughter." The Commodore stood stunned for a moment, obviously not knowing what to think, Jezebel stood there actually afraid of the man who had just saved her from Port Royal's filth of the night. "Are you going to send me to the gallows?"

"Ha, goodness no. You're the governor's granddaughter, not a pirate."

"But I am a pirate, I was raised by them. I've heard stories of you. Not a very nice person... when it come to pirates that is."

"Not many pirates are good either, you know." He said gently, he could tell that the girl was absolutely terrified of him.

"Cap'n Jack is a good pirate... all the pirates of the Pearl were good pirates, yet you hunted them. And now because we were hunted, and not just by you, they are gone and I'm left to live out a prophecy of my people. Lead a new era of piracy... I don't want it! I just want to be with both my parents and live in that nice house up there and not have to fret about any Blackbeard or commodore's with nooses or anything! Just family, no stealin' or killin' or even pilagin'...I wouldn't miss any of that..." said the flustered and frightened girl, her soft fresh curls shaking gently as she ranted on.

"Wait, were...was... you mean that..."

"They're dead! All dead, and it's my fault! Because I'm the leader of a new era, I already told you. The only one left is my dear friend Cap'n Jack, but even he is in Tortugo, not here to console mother's broken heart as well as my own. You won't go after him will you? You can't tell anyone we're even here. Blackbeard is here, waiting for me, he'll kill me if he finds me. Oh, I should go, I shouldn't be here..." she said as she attempted to run off towards home, but the commodore grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Let me escort you home, it's not safe, even for a young pirate queen. I promise I won't tell, nor will I ever hunt Captain Jack Sparrow for as long as I live. You have my word on that, Miss Turner. I'll protect you for as long as you are here in Port Royal." He stated gallantly.

"That would only be for a few more hours, we leave at dawn, once we claim my ship. Then we're off to find adventure in the wind."

"Who is this 'we' you keep addressing? Your mother perhaps?"

"And my rescuer... James West."

"Ah, the young fisherman. A fine lad of his station. Though you are a pirate, you are still of noble blood..."

"I am aware of who and what I am and what he is. I might have noble family, but I live by the rules of piracy and none other." Jezebel hissed defiantly.

"Understood." The commodore whispered as he offered the girl his arm and began to walk in the direction of the Governor's mansion.