So after looking at this chapter, I decided it wasn't long enough and
that I was missing something: a confrontation with Reph. So I've added it
on. Thank you to all my reviewers. Replies are at the bottom this time.
***
When Nick woke up, he found a woman sitting at the end of his bed. He immediately started and scooted away from her. Tori was the only female he'd ever seen on this ship and he'd certainly never seen this person before. She had short reddish hair which was clipped short around her neck and astonishing emerald eyes. She was older than Nick but quite young. "Who are you?" Nick asked, warily.
"Calm down," she didn't talk like the pirates. Her speech was proper and much like his mother's. Nick suddenly shivered, realizing how much like his mother she sounded.
"I'm Lyra," she continued.
Tons of questions flooded into Nick's head. "Why have I never seen you?" he blurted out the first one that came to him.
"I'm the doctor for this ship," she told him, "Captain Jack Sparrow hired me a few years ago and I've stayed here ever since. Gibbs sent me to look after you when I finished with Tori."
Feeling it would be rude to ask why a female was in a male occupation, Nick swallowed his next question. There was a knock at the door. Lyra opened it. Nick stood up quickly. "Tori," he murmured quietly.
Tori's hair was free of all the braids that had recently covered her head. It hung in a straight black sheet down her back. She looked tired but well. "Hi Nick," she seemed embarrassed, too.
Lyra studied them for a moment and then slipped out of the room without a sound. Tori didn't notice but Nick felt even queasier. "I... I..." Tori stopped, realizing how much she sounded like Nick, "I just meant ta say thank ya."
She dropped her head so the sheet of her hair made a curtain around her face. "You're welcome," Nick replied, glad that her hair was stopping any eye contact.
He expected her to leave but she wasn't done. "Ya risked yer life for me. Why?"
She pushed her hair out of her face and their eyes met. Tori quickly dropped them again. "Never mind," she muttered.
Casting one last glance at him, she left his cabin. Nick bit his lip and sat down on his bed again. Tori wasn't acting like herself at all. She hadn't snapped at him once. 'She as her pride,' he reminded himself, 'She doesn't want to admit that her life was in my hands for a short while.'
He was confused. He hadn't been sure at the time exactly what had made him go after her but he knew know. He was in love with her: with a pirate. He leaned back against the pillow. This was such a curse. She would never love him back and even if she did there was no way that they could be together. She was a weathered sailor and he a landlubber. He was fatigued. The short sleep he had just had, hadn't revived him. Closing his eyes, he went to sleep again.
***
When he woke for the second time, the sun was just rising, casting rays through the small porthole in his cabin. Feeling quite a bit better than before, Nick made his way onto the deck. Tori was back at her place at the tiller. Her hair was re-braided and she looked as forbidding as normal. She gave Nick a glance as he came up, showing no recollection to their last meeting. Nick walked over to her, determined not to show any embarrassment regarding the night before, either. There were questions he wanted answered. "Good morning," he greeted her.
She just nodded again, her dark eyes narrowed. "Do you know Lyra?" he asked her.
"Our doctor?"
Nick nodded. "Everyone knows 'er."
"Oh."
For a moment Nick was silent, trying to gain the courage to ask his next question. "Why is a... female... well a doctor?"
Tori frowned. "Why not?"
"It's just..." Nick struggled for an explanation, "Unusual. You have to go through schooling to become a qualified doctor and I didn't think they allowed women."
Tori gave him a piercing look. "Are ya accusin' her of bein' some inexperienced street scum?"
"No... no... it's just that," stuttered Nick.
"She disguised herself as a man," Tori said softly. She obviously respected Lyra greatly. "She studied in disguise for three years. They realized her true identity in her fourth year and she got kicked out. No village would allow her ta practice her trade so she came ta Tortuga lookin' for a ship that wouldn't care if she was male or female. My father..." she swallowed and continued, "My father employed her, and she's been here for a few years."
This story seemed far-fetched to Nick but he nodded. It explained why she talked so well. "It's rumored," Tori leaned closer as though to tell him a secret, "That she's in love with Daren."
"Daren?" Nick questioned.
Tori nodded to her left. Nick followed her motions. Daren was a pirate he had seen a few times before. He was fair skinned and had blond hair. The strangest thing about him was that even though the rest of him was light, his eyes were coal black. He was alongside Gibbs, cleaning the deck. "Hmmm..." Nick surveyed him for a moment and then turned back to Tori who was watching Daren as well.
"They wouldn't be allowed if there actually was somethin' goin' on between them," she told Nick, "She's still high-born and my father isn't that fond of Daren. He wouldn't let his doctor go fer him."
Her eyes met Nick's and held them for a moment almost as if she were trying to tell him something. Nick looked away. She hadn't said it directly but it had sounded like she was trying to tell him nothing could work out between them. But there wasn't anything at the moment. At least he didn't think so. He turned to leave. "Nick."
Tori's voice sliced into his thoughts. "What?" he turned back.
She gazed straight at him without a hint of embarrassment. "If ya see them together," she started, "Don't tell anyone."
Then she turned her back on him, making it clear that the conversation was over. Nick stared at her back. Had she ever seen them? She had just said there were rumors, not that anything was actually true. "Feeling better?"
Nick whirled around to find Lyra. He couldn't help staring at her, trying to figure out how she could have possibly disguised herself. Forcing himself not to stare too hard, he nodded. "Hmmm.."
Lyra looked at him carefully and then stood back, slightly. "I don't believe I ever got your name," she said.
"Oh," Nick blushed, "Nicolas Turner... or just Nick for short."
"Turner," Nick wished she would stop watching him with those pretty bright green eyes of hers, "Jack Sparrow has told many stories about your father to us."
Nick didn't know what to say to this. "I believe I had the pleasure of meeting him once before," she continued.
"Oh," Nick nodded politely.
There was footsteps behind him. Both he and Lyra turned. Daren nodded to both of them. "Good morning, Turner, ma'am."
"Just call me Lyra," Lyra told him.
"Jack has told the crew not to call ya by yer first name, ma'am."
Lyra gave an irritated noise. "Oh hang Jack Sparrow. He can't tell people to call me by something I don't want them to."
Daren nodded, "Aye... Lyra."
Lyra smiled as Daren nodded again and walked off to continue helping Gibbs. Nick noticed how her gaze lingered on him. "Well," Lyra turned away from the retreating Daren, "There's not anything else I can do for you is there?" she asked Nick.
He shook his head. "I was only out for a short time."
"Good."
She turned on her heel and walked away quickly. Nick shook his head. She was very strange. He'd never met anyone like her. But come to think of it, he'd never met anybody like any of the crew.
***
Tori jumped at a thud behind her. She spun around. Reph had landed there, after letting go of his favorite ropes. "I really wish ya wouldn't do that," Tori informed him, exasperatedly, "My father says it wears the ropes thin."
"I don't notice him holdin' off," Reph was frowning, "I heard from Gibbs that that landlubber Turner rescued ya last night durin' the storm. That's not true is it?"
Tori glared at him and her chin jutted out. She didn't reply. "Well?"
Reph was watching her intently, his face unreadable. "Aye."
Tori meet his gaze, without faltering. Reph's eyes narrowed. "What he do?"
"He saved my life, actually," Tori explained with the air of one talking about the weather.
Reph grabbed her arm and pulled her so that her face was inches from her. "What'd he 'ave ta do ta make ya say this?" he growled.
Tori stared. "What are ya talkin' about?"
Reph gripped her arm harder. "How much did he have ta pay ya ta talk like this? Ta pretend that he saved yer life. Did he grab yer hand for comfort when the storm scared him and ya said he rescued ya? Was the agreement that ya'd act like ya loved him as well? 'Cause yer doin' a good job of it."
Tori tore her arm away from him. Anger was coursing through her like she had never felt before towards Reph. "Don't ya dare talk about Nick like that!" she yelled, "Don't ya dare talk about ME like that."
"What? Ya care about him? For real?"
Reph grabbed her shoulders and shook her. This was more than Tori could stand. She dug her nails into his hands, causing him to yelp in pain and then struck him across the face. "Don't ya EVER touch me like that, Reph Morcan!"
She was shaking. He just stared at her, his black hair falling out of his ponytail and into his eyes. She backed away, banging into Gibbs who was now manning the tiller. He turned at once. "What's wrong, Tori?" he asked, immediately, seeing her expression.
"Nothin', nothin'."
Reph was gone. He always seemed to do that. Tori closed her eyes. He was jealous and she knew it. He had guessed what she had known for along time: she cared for Nick.
***
To Reviewers:
Anmras: Because you asked what Reph would say, I added the end part. I would have forgotten all about that if you hadn't said that. Thank you. Don't worry about over reaction. I do it all the time. Jk.
Yakkorat: Wow! I glad that the people who are reading this story continue reading it because up until recently, I haven't gotten that type of loyalty to my writing. You are right about the thing with the parents. I guess I'll have to come up with some more ideas (I've not got a clue what to do with them.) Any suggestions on ways to improve melodramatic crazy scenes like the storm one? I love writing them but they never quite turn out the way I plan.
Akalei: Woo-hoo! Someone new! (Not that I don't love you guys who have been reading this since the beginning.) Hmmm.. you know I wouldn't exactly agree with the in-character thing completely. I think I did a nice job on Elizabeth, Jack, Will, and Anamaria (although I should have given her more of a part) but Nick occasionally slips out of character (I can do okay with someone else's characters but not my own.) Yeah he's supposed to change but the part where he tells Tori to go away when he's first on the Pearl is somewhat out of character. So now that I've blabbed on about something you probably don't want to hear about, I'm going to stop. Oh yeah, and your story is great!
Karin: Of course I wouldn't kill Will! *Fondles him*
Reese Sparrow: Hehe. I can say a lot of mean stuff about Jack. Come to think of it, I can say a lot of mean stuff about Will, too!
Baby Goo Goo: Here it is. *Does a funky dance* Sorry, just waaaaay too much sugar, you know.
Lin: Guess you don't like the rest since you didn't read any farther than the first chapter and probably won't even read this.
Sparrow Quill: It sort of changes their relationship and sort of doesn't as you saw. I think it sort of wakes Tori up to the fact that Nick isn't as helpless as he seems. Orlando Bloom is sooooo the hottest guy on the planet, not Jack! *Runs away from all the screaming Johnny Depp fan girls* I could definitely resists a guy in eyeliner. Too feminine. Just kidding. I still love Jack even though Will is my favorite.
Vagrant Candy: Nick is cute, isn't he? I want to hug him. *Hugs him* BACK OFF, HE'S MINE!!!! Okay, just kidding. I still like Will. (I'd never kill him in a hundred years. Hear that, Dana?)
***
When Nick woke up, he found a woman sitting at the end of his bed. He immediately started and scooted away from her. Tori was the only female he'd ever seen on this ship and he'd certainly never seen this person before. She had short reddish hair which was clipped short around her neck and astonishing emerald eyes. She was older than Nick but quite young. "Who are you?" Nick asked, warily.
"Calm down," she didn't talk like the pirates. Her speech was proper and much like his mother's. Nick suddenly shivered, realizing how much like his mother she sounded.
"I'm Lyra," she continued.
Tons of questions flooded into Nick's head. "Why have I never seen you?" he blurted out the first one that came to him.
"I'm the doctor for this ship," she told him, "Captain Jack Sparrow hired me a few years ago and I've stayed here ever since. Gibbs sent me to look after you when I finished with Tori."
Feeling it would be rude to ask why a female was in a male occupation, Nick swallowed his next question. There was a knock at the door. Lyra opened it. Nick stood up quickly. "Tori," he murmured quietly.
Tori's hair was free of all the braids that had recently covered her head. It hung in a straight black sheet down her back. She looked tired but well. "Hi Nick," she seemed embarrassed, too.
Lyra studied them for a moment and then slipped out of the room without a sound. Tori didn't notice but Nick felt even queasier. "I... I..." Tori stopped, realizing how much she sounded like Nick, "I just meant ta say thank ya."
She dropped her head so the sheet of her hair made a curtain around her face. "You're welcome," Nick replied, glad that her hair was stopping any eye contact.
He expected her to leave but she wasn't done. "Ya risked yer life for me. Why?"
She pushed her hair out of her face and their eyes met. Tori quickly dropped them again. "Never mind," she muttered.
Casting one last glance at him, she left his cabin. Nick bit his lip and sat down on his bed again. Tori wasn't acting like herself at all. She hadn't snapped at him once. 'She as her pride,' he reminded himself, 'She doesn't want to admit that her life was in my hands for a short while.'
He was confused. He hadn't been sure at the time exactly what had made him go after her but he knew know. He was in love with her: with a pirate. He leaned back against the pillow. This was such a curse. She would never love him back and even if she did there was no way that they could be together. She was a weathered sailor and he a landlubber. He was fatigued. The short sleep he had just had, hadn't revived him. Closing his eyes, he went to sleep again.
***
When he woke for the second time, the sun was just rising, casting rays through the small porthole in his cabin. Feeling quite a bit better than before, Nick made his way onto the deck. Tori was back at her place at the tiller. Her hair was re-braided and she looked as forbidding as normal. She gave Nick a glance as he came up, showing no recollection to their last meeting. Nick walked over to her, determined not to show any embarrassment regarding the night before, either. There were questions he wanted answered. "Good morning," he greeted her.
She just nodded again, her dark eyes narrowed. "Do you know Lyra?" he asked her.
"Our doctor?"
Nick nodded. "Everyone knows 'er."
"Oh."
For a moment Nick was silent, trying to gain the courage to ask his next question. "Why is a... female... well a doctor?"
Tori frowned. "Why not?"
"It's just..." Nick struggled for an explanation, "Unusual. You have to go through schooling to become a qualified doctor and I didn't think they allowed women."
Tori gave him a piercing look. "Are ya accusin' her of bein' some inexperienced street scum?"
"No... no... it's just that," stuttered Nick.
"She disguised herself as a man," Tori said softly. She obviously respected Lyra greatly. "She studied in disguise for three years. They realized her true identity in her fourth year and she got kicked out. No village would allow her ta practice her trade so she came ta Tortuga lookin' for a ship that wouldn't care if she was male or female. My father..." she swallowed and continued, "My father employed her, and she's been here for a few years."
This story seemed far-fetched to Nick but he nodded. It explained why she talked so well. "It's rumored," Tori leaned closer as though to tell him a secret, "That she's in love with Daren."
"Daren?" Nick questioned.
Tori nodded to her left. Nick followed her motions. Daren was a pirate he had seen a few times before. He was fair skinned and had blond hair. The strangest thing about him was that even though the rest of him was light, his eyes were coal black. He was alongside Gibbs, cleaning the deck. "Hmmm..." Nick surveyed him for a moment and then turned back to Tori who was watching Daren as well.
"They wouldn't be allowed if there actually was somethin' goin' on between them," she told Nick, "She's still high-born and my father isn't that fond of Daren. He wouldn't let his doctor go fer him."
Her eyes met Nick's and held them for a moment almost as if she were trying to tell him something. Nick looked away. She hadn't said it directly but it had sounded like she was trying to tell him nothing could work out between them. But there wasn't anything at the moment. At least he didn't think so. He turned to leave. "Nick."
Tori's voice sliced into his thoughts. "What?" he turned back.
She gazed straight at him without a hint of embarrassment. "If ya see them together," she started, "Don't tell anyone."
Then she turned her back on him, making it clear that the conversation was over. Nick stared at her back. Had she ever seen them? She had just said there were rumors, not that anything was actually true. "Feeling better?"
Nick whirled around to find Lyra. He couldn't help staring at her, trying to figure out how she could have possibly disguised herself. Forcing himself not to stare too hard, he nodded. "Hmmm.."
Lyra looked at him carefully and then stood back, slightly. "I don't believe I ever got your name," she said.
"Oh," Nick blushed, "Nicolas Turner... or just Nick for short."
"Turner," Nick wished she would stop watching him with those pretty bright green eyes of hers, "Jack Sparrow has told many stories about your father to us."
Nick didn't know what to say to this. "I believe I had the pleasure of meeting him once before," she continued.
"Oh," Nick nodded politely.
There was footsteps behind him. Both he and Lyra turned. Daren nodded to both of them. "Good morning, Turner, ma'am."
"Just call me Lyra," Lyra told him.
"Jack has told the crew not to call ya by yer first name, ma'am."
Lyra gave an irritated noise. "Oh hang Jack Sparrow. He can't tell people to call me by something I don't want them to."
Daren nodded, "Aye... Lyra."
Lyra smiled as Daren nodded again and walked off to continue helping Gibbs. Nick noticed how her gaze lingered on him. "Well," Lyra turned away from the retreating Daren, "There's not anything else I can do for you is there?" she asked Nick.
He shook his head. "I was only out for a short time."
"Good."
She turned on her heel and walked away quickly. Nick shook his head. She was very strange. He'd never met anyone like her. But come to think of it, he'd never met anybody like any of the crew.
***
Tori jumped at a thud behind her. She spun around. Reph had landed there, after letting go of his favorite ropes. "I really wish ya wouldn't do that," Tori informed him, exasperatedly, "My father says it wears the ropes thin."
"I don't notice him holdin' off," Reph was frowning, "I heard from Gibbs that that landlubber Turner rescued ya last night durin' the storm. That's not true is it?"
Tori glared at him and her chin jutted out. She didn't reply. "Well?"
Reph was watching her intently, his face unreadable. "Aye."
Tori meet his gaze, without faltering. Reph's eyes narrowed. "What he do?"
"He saved my life, actually," Tori explained with the air of one talking about the weather.
Reph grabbed her arm and pulled her so that her face was inches from her. "What'd he 'ave ta do ta make ya say this?" he growled.
Tori stared. "What are ya talkin' about?"
Reph gripped her arm harder. "How much did he have ta pay ya ta talk like this? Ta pretend that he saved yer life. Did he grab yer hand for comfort when the storm scared him and ya said he rescued ya? Was the agreement that ya'd act like ya loved him as well? 'Cause yer doin' a good job of it."
Tori tore her arm away from him. Anger was coursing through her like she had never felt before towards Reph. "Don't ya dare talk about Nick like that!" she yelled, "Don't ya dare talk about ME like that."
"What? Ya care about him? For real?"
Reph grabbed her shoulders and shook her. This was more than Tori could stand. She dug her nails into his hands, causing him to yelp in pain and then struck him across the face. "Don't ya EVER touch me like that, Reph Morcan!"
She was shaking. He just stared at her, his black hair falling out of his ponytail and into his eyes. She backed away, banging into Gibbs who was now manning the tiller. He turned at once. "What's wrong, Tori?" he asked, immediately, seeing her expression.
"Nothin', nothin'."
Reph was gone. He always seemed to do that. Tori closed her eyes. He was jealous and she knew it. He had guessed what she had known for along time: she cared for Nick.
***
To Reviewers:
Anmras: Because you asked what Reph would say, I added the end part. I would have forgotten all about that if you hadn't said that. Thank you. Don't worry about over reaction. I do it all the time. Jk.
Yakkorat: Wow! I glad that the people who are reading this story continue reading it because up until recently, I haven't gotten that type of loyalty to my writing. You are right about the thing with the parents. I guess I'll have to come up with some more ideas (I've not got a clue what to do with them.) Any suggestions on ways to improve melodramatic crazy scenes like the storm one? I love writing them but they never quite turn out the way I plan.
Akalei: Woo-hoo! Someone new! (Not that I don't love you guys who have been reading this since the beginning.) Hmmm.. you know I wouldn't exactly agree with the in-character thing completely. I think I did a nice job on Elizabeth, Jack, Will, and Anamaria (although I should have given her more of a part) but Nick occasionally slips out of character (I can do okay with someone else's characters but not my own.) Yeah he's supposed to change but the part where he tells Tori to go away when he's first on the Pearl is somewhat out of character. So now that I've blabbed on about something you probably don't want to hear about, I'm going to stop. Oh yeah, and your story is great!
Karin: Of course I wouldn't kill Will! *Fondles him*
Reese Sparrow: Hehe. I can say a lot of mean stuff about Jack. Come to think of it, I can say a lot of mean stuff about Will, too!
Baby Goo Goo: Here it is. *Does a funky dance* Sorry, just waaaaay too much sugar, you know.
Lin: Guess you don't like the rest since you didn't read any farther than the first chapter and probably won't even read this.
Sparrow Quill: It sort of changes their relationship and sort of doesn't as you saw. I think it sort of wakes Tori up to the fact that Nick isn't as helpless as he seems. Orlando Bloom is sooooo the hottest guy on the planet, not Jack! *Runs away from all the screaming Johnny Depp fan girls* I could definitely resists a guy in eyeliner. Too feminine. Just kidding. I still love Jack even though Will is my favorite.
Vagrant Candy: Nick is cute, isn't he? I want to hug him. *Hugs him* BACK OFF, HE'S MINE!!!! Okay, just kidding. I still like Will. (I'd never kill him in a hundred years. Hear that, Dana?)