~~*~~

"I'm...s...s...sorry," Catherine chattered, her wet dressing gown clinging to

her body. "I...I don't know what happened," she wondered aloud as Will sat

her gently to the edge of her bunk, he too sopping wet.

"You're fine now, that's all that matters," he insisted, his hair

unbound, hanging nearly in his face as he grabbed the blanket from the

bed and placed it about her shoulders.

"That's never happened before," she explained. "I was just standing

there before going to bed, looking at the stars and next thing I know,

I'm tumbling overboard."

Will was rushing about lighting all the candles he could find and

placing them about the cabin to light and warm it as quickly as

possible. "Maybe you tripped over a rope," he suggested, thinking back

to the incident and not seeing what happened, but having Stout point out

that Catherine had fallen overboard. In calm waters no less.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Will stopped before the woman and

placed his hands on his hips. Damn, she was most fetching with her hair

plastered to her skull, and that dressing gown not leaving much to the

imagination as it held itself firmly against every curve of her body.

Why didn't she put that blanket back around her shoulders?

Reaching forward to pick the blanket back up once more after she had

discarded it, Will eyed her curiously. "Miss Hyde," he began,

intentionally using her married name and watching as she bristled. "Did

you mean to jump ship?"

Catherine gasped aloud and looked at the man as if he'd gone mad. "What?

Why would I do such a thing?"

"You tell me?" He goaded.

Standing, not caring that she was but toe to toe with the man, her green

eyes blazed with fury. "I have no intentions of tossing myself to the

sea in some...some...perverted, feeble manner. You think that the other

night...us...the kiss, would make me do such? You are more the fool than I'd

have imagined, Mr. Turner."

"I am not so high upon myself to even consider that it had anything to

do with me and the actions of that night. I was merely referring to your

state of... being...financially if nothing else," he assured, grabbing her

hand and showing her the finger, which had held the ring at one time.

"You sold your ring for the ship's repairs, did you not?"

Snatching her hand back, Catherine near growled at the man. "No, I did

not sell...I bartered," she corrected on that thin point, knowing it was

nothing but silliness. "Do you wish to know everything?"

Cocking his head to the side, water from his wet hair drizzling lazily

down his neck and chest, he was quite the enthralling sight. "Yes, that

would be most interesting, I'm positive," he shot back, watching as the

woman before him placed her hands on her hips and straightened her

posture.

"Fine then. Yes, I had to barter my ring...my grandmother's ring to be

exact. For that is all I have left till we deliver this cargo. Do you

also wish to know that upon my husband's death..."

Will arched his eyebrow at the word, making Catherine snort.

"...Upon his 'hanging', he left our finances in a mess. There was nothing

left, debtors came from near and far to take everything from me. My

house, the land, all my belongings...and all for debts I knew nothing

about. Charles always took care of those matters, I allowed him, that is

supposedly how it is done, is it not? And you see where it has gotten

me. Living on a ship no less, spending what little I did own to get it

seaworthy before Port Royal, and then in the process, losing the ship as

well, for payment to you."

"I have nothing left to give, Mr. Turner. The coffers are bare, what few

gowns I own are last season's and patched to the extent that if I dared

placed another stitch upon them, they'd become more glaringly noticeable

than they already are. Do you wish to know that during my marriage, I

was usually alone while Charles was out on this damned ship? I stayed

home, circulated the social circles helping him drum up business

elsewhere because that was what was expected of me. I was the dutiful

wife, that was my role. Yet, not a soul told me that when I fell in love

with him and married, that it was a love that would be used against me

and keep me so lonely I thought I'd go crazy."

"So no, Mr. Turner, if I had planned to throw myself overboard at any

time. I'd say it would have occurred over the last eight years...and even

then, I endured, hoping for his business to finally 'pay off' as he kept

telling me. Or more still, I'd become pregnant-but that's next to

impossible when over a year would pass and he'd be off in the Caribbean

while I was in the Carolina's."

Will was at a loss for words, his mind was spinning near out of control

for he felt that in some way, there stood his kindred spirit. Someone

else who had lived a hell and was now searching, scraping, and fighting

for some semblance to start over again, but still unwilling to totally

let go of the past.

"I'm sorry," he said with concern, his true understanding very evident

in his eyes.

"You know, the other night, I was wishing you were speaking of how

foolish my husband was...not you. I guess it was a desperate woman's

ravings, but it is truth...I swore I'd hate you for not giving me that

remark...but again...I can't hate you Mr. Turner. Truth is, I don't

understand why," she found herself confessing, much to both their

surprise.

Taking a deep breath, Will shifted slightly on his feet. "I 'was'

speaking of your husband. He was an utter fool to leave you wasting away

at home while he...well, I've told you what he did. If you wish to believe

it, all well, if not, so be it. I can't make you believe something

you're not ready to, but all I can say is that it's a good thing you do

not use your married name in these parts. There are lots of men...and

women... with hard feelings towards Charles Hyde..."

Catherine began to speak up, but Will placed a hand to her cheek,

stopping the words instantly. "No, no words, it's not necessary. But I

can tell you that your husband was not a good man on many levels. He

might not have shown you, but I think you realized this after some time

and just didn't want to believe it...wanting to hold on to your dreams,

your future. But sometimes, Catherine Kent, your dreams and your future

are brutally snatched away from you...you either hide or fight."

"Like you?" she asked softly, no accusation in her voice but a kinship.

Will couldn't help but smile wanly. "Not quite. I chose to not live. I

chose to exist day to day and not think of the world beyond my self

pity...till you turned up on that broken down porch of mine."

"You loved your wife very much, did you not?"

He chuckled lowly, but with warmth. "I'd have died for her. Taken her

place if possible," he said with conviction.

"Did she love you in return?"

Looking slightly surprised, Will kept his hand to her cheek and tenderly

brushed his thumb against her damp skin. "I would like to think so. No,

I know this for fact," he corrected, as he watched the woman before him

bow her head and appear to be glancing at their feet, and the puddle of

salty water slowly pooling about them.

Slowly, his hand moved to her chin and he urged her to face him. It was

in the moment her green eyes locked with his rich brown that he knew so

much of her spirit had been crushed over the years and that she still

longed to be whole again.

"You were very lucky, Will Turner, very lucky. Some of us never have

known what it would be like to honestly be loved in return. We give so

much. So much is taken. We begin to wonder if there is ever going to be

anything left to give again," she voiced in a trembling whisper.

He could not have looked away from her in those fleeting seconds if

someone had held a pistol to his head. Those few words had struck every

nerve in his body and had raced straight to his heart. "He was a damned,

bloody bastard," he spoke with anger, leaning forward to meet her half

way for a kiss that was slow, passionate, and breathtaking.

~~*~~

tbc