RETURN TO THE BLACK PEARL

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, all my wonderful reviewers! Getting your reviews just makes my day.

CAST OF THOUSANDS: We know. We hear your insane giggling whenever you get one.

ME: Not a problem, as long as there's no one else in the room.

CAST OF THOUSANDS: See, the problem is that most of time, there are. And like us, they think you're weird.

Just a note: I'm going to be going back and editing my previous posts occasionally, just spelling and grammar and stuff, no major plot changes. So don't be alarmed if you notice minor differences.


Chapter Two: From Out of Nowhere, Continued

Will took supper at the Governor's mansion with Elizabeth and her father these days, but it was completely dark by the time he arrived that night, late. Elizabeth wondered where he'd been, what he had been up to since leaving the Duty Free. All he had said to her when he left her side was that he needed to be alone. Elizabeth didn't begrudge him his alone time, but she'd wished he had been more informative.

Elizabeth and Governor Swann had been sitting at the table for a good half hour, the governor looking empathically at the clock every five minutes and then at his daughter, who flushed, before Will arrived, panting and breathing heavily from a half-hearted effort to be on time. Elizabeth smiled at him anxiously. She had worried about him.

She was in the process of buttering a roll when Will dropped the bomb. "I'm going to England," he announced.

Elizabeth dropped her knife and Governor Swann choked on his drink, looking mildly astonished. "What?" Elizabeth squawked in dismay. However she had been expecting Will to handle the news—if it could be called news—about his father, this was certainly not it.

"The Duty Free will be sailing to England, and I'm going along. I've got it all worked out with Mr. Brown." Mr. Brown, Will's long-time master in the art of blacksmithing.

"Why are you going to England?" asked Governor Swann in total confusion. Elizabeth realized that he had no idea of the events of the day.

Will regarded him steadily. "To find my father."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Elizabeth demanded.

Will sighed. "The letter contained an address. It was in London. I thought I'd start there first."

Elizabeth gazed at him in concern. This was probably only the second time in his life that Will had behaved rashly, the first having occurred a year ago when he and Jack had commandeered a ship from Norrington's fleet to rescue her. But if he was so eager to go..."Do you really have to?" she asked him softly, and looked closely into his eyes, as if she might find the answer written in his eyes.

Will didn't break her searching gaze. "I really have to," he said, also softly.

And he really had to, she knew. It was too important to him. If there was any chance that his father was still alive, even only a remote one, he had to take. And that, she reflected, left her with no choice. No choice at all. "All right," she agreed. Will looked surprised; her father flabbergasted. Elizabeth could practically hear their shared thought: She's agreeing to this lunacy? Then she said, "I'm coming, too."

A second bomb dropped. Will and Governor Swann immediately broke into loud peals of dissention. She ignored them, picked up her knife and began to finish buttering the almost-forgotten roll. Slowly, their voiced died. "You'll need me," Elizabeth told Will, and after a pause, he reluctantly nodded.

"But, Elizabeth..." her father sputtered helplessly. "It's not your place..." Again, his voice trailed off.

"It is my place," Elizabeth said steadily in a tone that allowed no argument. "My place is beside Will." Will looked at her with an expression that was equal parts gratitude and lingering concern. Elizabeth smiled tremulously back at him.

Governor Swann appeared to relinquish his protests as well. He sighed loudly. "London, eh?" he asked Will in a resigned fashion.

"Yes," Will responded. He added as an afterthought to Elizabeth, "Norrington is captaining the Duty Free to prevent her being plundered again and was kind enough to offer me a place on board."

"Perfect," she said.

"Exciting," commented the governor, adjusting his wig. "I've always loved London in the fall."

Elizabeth slowly picked up her fork and resumed her dinner. "So..." she said slowly, "how was your day, Will?"


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