Finding Grace
By: BelieveInFaeries
Chapter Two: 'My Boots Will Not Fit You'?
William Turner had done a lot of things in his life.
He had sailed from England to the Carribean when he was just nine years of age to find his father when his mother had died. He had defyed the odds that were against him when he'd gotten pneumonia at the tender age of eleven and lived through it. He had gone on a wild, insane adeventure with a pirate captain after the woman he loved when she was captured by pirates a year ago, and won her back.
And yet, he had no idea what had posessed him to take this young, most likely now, frightened woman onto the most feared ship in the Carribean.
He dreaded what the crew would say, especially Mr. Gibbs. He didn't much care for women company aboard any ship. Although, Mr. Gibbs was extremely supersticious. The infamous Captain Jack Sparrow would no doubt believe Will had done so as a gift to him. And Will rolled his eyes inwardly at the thought.
He chanced a small glance at the young female beside him. She looked more awed than frightened. Perhaps the fear had yet to set in. Or perhaps, she did not show fear well. Either way he was sure she would start into hysterics quite soon.
His small glance turned into a stare as he watched her look around at everyone on deck. She took it all in and her green eyes grew larger as her gaze settled in on another crew member. "Captain Jack Sparrow." he heard her whisper and looked towards the starboard side of the ship.
Captain Jack was only a few feet away and coming towards them curious as to why Will had brought along a woman. Not that he minded too terribly. He stopped just before them and took a long look at her. She had beautiful auburn hair that was coiled up in a delicate, feminine style, though a few wisps had escaped on her little adventure and now framed an oval face. The Captian then let his eyes roam over her body allowing himself to wonder of all the little secrets hiding underneath all of the layers of silk and satin.
When he had his fill he trailed slowly back up to her face to meet big green eyes watching him. He smiled a toothy grin to Will, "Have you brought me a present, young William?"
This time Will really did let his eyes roll. Jack would never change. "No." he stated with a curt nod, "We were being chased by the Navy, and-"
"You're Captain Jack Sparrow." the girl interrupted still staring wide-eyed at Jack.
"Yes, luv, I am." Jack smiled widely liking this new feeling of celebrity. "And who might you be?" he asked stepping towards her with interest.
"Me?" Grace fumbled a squeak, "Oh, I'm Grace O'Conner." she smiled,curtseying slightly for him.
"I'm pleased to meet you Miss Grace." Jack poured on the charm elicting a small blush from Grace.
Will watched as this young woman fell right into Jack's charms and wondered what had happened to the frightened expression's he'd thought he'd find on her face. She showed nothing of the sort, in fact she was more excited and happy than anything close to frightened. He was so intent on watching her with his curiousity that he did not hear Jack when he spoke.
"WILLIAM!" Jack all but struck the young man. When Will turned to face his Captain, a slight blush painted on his cheeks from the embarassment of being lost in his thoughts, Jack continued, "Were my ears right in hearin' that the Royal Navy was on your boot heels, boy?"
"Aye." Will nodded and waited for orders, not looking at Grace for fear that he would be prone to staring again.
"Well, then," Jack turned to the crew, "Get moving you scabberous dogs! Weigh anchor! Set sail!"
"Weigh anchor! Set the sails!" Mr. Gibbs parroted Jacks orders, though none aboard needed to be told again. He turned towards the lankier man, "Where to, Captain?"
"Hmm." Jack pondered a moment taking the time to stroke his beard thoughtfully. "Tortuga, I think." he stated and made his way to the helm.
"Captain, what about the, uh," Gibbs nodded his head towards Grace, "The girl. What'll we do with her?"
Jack looked over towards Grace as she stepped forward, "I don't know yet, Gibbs. What'll we do with you, luv?" he asked.
Grace swallowed a small amount of fear as she boldly stepped towards the Captain, "Might I ask you a question, Captain Sparrow?"
"That depends on what kind of question it is, luv." Jack said as he turned to the helm once more and began guiding the Pearl out of danger.
Grace walked up the steps to stand beside him. "Did you really ransack Nassau Port without even firing off a single shot?" she asked with wide eyes full of wonder and curiousity.
Jack's grin stretched wide upon his face, "Aye, luv, I did. Would you like to hear about it?" he grinned towards her, already knowing the answer by the look upon her face.
"Oh yes." Grace nodded quickly, "Please." she added with a smile as she stepped closer to the charming captian.
Will watched from his duties as Jack talked to Grace up until the wee hours of morning. He rolled his eyes as he caught small snipets of the conversation. It was mostly Jack speaking about his many adventures, and of course, since it was Captain Jack Sparrow telling the tales they were all in his favor. The only thing from Grace that he heard were noises of excitment or wonder depending on what part he was at.
He wondered why this girl was not afraid of the pirate Captain or the crew. Elizabeth, he remembered she'd said, wasn't too afraid of Jack when they'd met, until that is, he took her hostage. This young woman seemed to be from some sort of noble family and Will feared this might cause a large ripple in the smooth waters they'd been having as of late. What with the Commodore settling down with marriage, they hadn't had to much trouble out of him.
Of course Will wouldn't have wanted to leave his wife to journey at sea either. That is, if he had one.
That still left a bitter taste in the young man's mouth. He would try and tell himself that he and Elizabeth weren't meant to be that there were other fish in the ocean and all sorts of other uplifting metephorical phrases but they never seemed to work where Elizabeth was concerned. The cold hard facts were what kept him alone at night and curt during his days.
The facts were simply; she did want to marry, just not him. He was a blacksmith and she was a governor's daughter; their stations would not allow them to stay together. He could not give her all that she wanted in the matter of material goods.
William kept telling himself all of this but still his heart was broken. True, he could not give her material goods, and their classes were different but he could love her. And he did. He still did, after all this time and all she put him through, God help him, he loved her.
Will snapped out of his Elizabeth inspired daze and jumped back into work helping some of the crew raise a freshly mended sail. There was no need in reminesing over something that hadn't happened, he scolded himself, it would only make it worse.
"Young Mister Turner!" he heard Jack yell from the helm.
"Aye." Will said as he approached, glancing momentarily at the young woman. She was still awed by Jack it seemed.
"Take young Miss O'Conner down to the galley and fetch her something to eat." Jack said while steadying his gaze back into the inky blackness of the water.
"It's quite alright, Captain, I have already had my supper." Grace spoke up in a polite tone. "You have no need to babysit me, Mister Turner." she told Will with a slight smile.
"Well, Will, escort Miss O'Conner to a vacant room so she can sleep." Jack decided with a nod. "And if ya need anythin' a'tall Miss O'Conner, my room is just below this helm." he said with a warm smile towards her.
Grace was about to protest again, wanting to hear more of Jack's tales but a yawn interrupted her. She blinked afterward trying to chase the sleep from her body but to no avail, she was tired.
Will did his job, making sure she had a door with a lock so that the crew would leave her be. "I'm just across from you, if you need anything." he told her but his tone was not as gentle nor as inviting as Jack's had been.
"Thank you, Mister Turner." she smiled slightly back at him. He turned to leave her in the doorway but she stopped him, "Mister Turner?"
He turned towards her, "Yes?"
She seemed to think for a moment before asking, "Do you have any extra trousers I could borrow? For tomorrow, I mean. I should hate to dirty my dress." she said quickly.
His look turned from confusion to interest, a noble woman wanting to wear a man's trousers? He debated on telling her no and getting back to his work, but he did offer his services to her and the guilt of lying to her would soon catch up with him.
So it was that without a word he went into his own quarters and returned out with not only a pair of trouser's but a shirt as well. The trousers would be no good without it, then the crew would just have an excuse not to work. Although as Will looked at her he couldn't help but conjure the image of just the trousers resting upon her hips and nothing else.
When he emerged from his room she was right where he'd left her, just inside her doorway. She smiled when she saw the things he carried. "Thank you, Mister Turner, I appreciate this more than you know."
Her smile was warm and Will felt a slight stir of something in his stomach. And for the first time that night, he looked at her. Really looked at her. She was pretty. An understatement, he decided as he assesed her again, she would have been just pretty of not for those eyes. Those eyes were what made her beautiful.
At first glance, they were green, but if one took the time to really look into them there was more than just green. A muted but noticable yellow outlined the center black and blended in to make the beautiful lush green which in turn was outlined by an almost dark blue color.
Will decided he could spend hours just looking into these eyes. Beautiful, colorful eyes. Eyes that were not brown like Elizabeth's had been. Eyes that were currently settled below eyebrows arched with a curious interest at him.
He had to say something now. She was looking at him in question. The right thing to say would be to apologize for staring at her. But what Will thought to say and what Will did say were completely different.
"My boots will not fit you." he said snapping himself out of his thoughts and simultaneously shoving the garments at her. He then turned and left her standing with the clothes just inside her cabin door.