"No, her name is Tori. Dark hair, about so tall, and this big?" Will gestured with his rough hands. The bartender shrugged and shook his head while he finished drying a glass and filled it with rum for Jack.

"Never 'eard of 'er." He replied, setting the glass down in front of the seasoned pirate. He walked off to answer the summon of another patron, ignoring Will as he started on more elaborate descriptions.

"Finest rum in the Caribbean mate!" Jack avowed, raising his tankard.

"You said that at every tavern we've been to so far." Will observed with a sigh. He slumped into a chair across from Jack, exhausted and confused.

"Ahh, bu' this time I really, really, truly from the bo'm of my heart, mean it. Hones'ly. This is the finest… finest…"

"Rum." Will supplied, his voiced muffled by his head being buried in his crossed arms on the table.

"Right. Finest rum in th'…here."

"Aren't you supposed to stay put when you get lost?" Demanded a familiar voice.

"Tori luv! 'Ave a round with us then we're off to Tortuga for another! And then maybe something even more fun! What d'you say luv!"

Tori prudently ignored the raving pirate and gently laid a hand on Will's shoulder. He looked up at her. "Good. Let's go." He said bleakly. He stood, letting his chair fall, and left the tavern. Tori hooked Jack's holster belt and dragged him after Will, disregarding the pirates' longing, reaching look and violent protests for the last swallow of rum.

Tori ran after the lost blacksmith and seized his arm. He tried to jerk away, but her grip was iron. Her eyes were as still and calm as the azure ocean, but had shards of steel in them as she spoke demurely.

"But Will, you have a gala to attend tonight."

"No! No galas!" Jack answered, unhooking himself and removing her from his companion. He stood between her and Will and waved his arms. "No galas! We're leaving, on the ship, now. So if you want him to go to your little gala, you'll have to find your own ride home." He turned with William to leave.

"What ship, Captain Sparrow?" Tori asked sweetly after him.

Jack froze and turned, walking back to her. "Yours love. Your ship manned by my crew which waits just beyond those cliffs. That ship."

"Oh, that ship."

"Yes, that ship," Then Jack caught the tone of her voice and grimaced. He looked her dead in the eye. "What did you do to my ship?"

"Your ship?" She commented innocently

"Don't toy with me lass. The ship, what did you do to it?"

"I didn't do anything. Your crew may have moved it."

"My crew wouldn't move it without my command," Then he looked at the sweetly smiling girl and hesitated. "Wouldn't they?"

"Perhaps if they took another ship, and went home in that. Especially if it was a ship of British Royal Navy quality… and colours." Tori suggested, her eyes wide.

"You commandeered a Naval ship?"

"I suppose technically you commandeered the Commodore's Naval ship, yes."

Infuriated, Jack fumbled for his sword, and saw Tori's hand already on her hilt. He immediately abandoned his notion and scrabbled for something else to say or do with elaborate gesticulations. Words failed him, not that it stopped him from spluttering parts of them. He looked about to explode at Tori's eternally calm face when he threw his hands up in wild-eyed defeat. "Alright, we'll go to your little gala then you give up the location of the ship, we're saavy?"

"Aye Captain." She replied mockingly. She took Will's elbow, then, rather forcibly Jack's, and more or less dragged them to Will's silent smithy.

"She's been up there over an hour, isn't she done yet?" Jack demanded

Will shrugged despondently. Jack was starting to worry about his withdrawn comrade. He plucked distastefully at his clothes, and made a face in the mirror at his outlandish appearance and hairstyle.

"Alright, I'm ready." Tori called. She lightly ran down the stairs in a simple, pale blue gown that made her practically glow. She moved with the ease and grace of a deer, rather than her usual cat-like qualities. Will glanced up briefly from his self pity and noticed Tori's final descent. He emotionlessly offered his arm, but did come out of his abstraction enough for a ghost of a smile.

"Miss Evingtar," Jack greeted her, kissing her hand. She smiled amusedly

"Tori, you look like a, girl." Will stuttered, in an attempt to complement her.

Tori raised her eyebrows and laughed, "And just what did I look like before Mr. Turner?" She teased "A beached whale?"

"No! It's not, I didn't…" Will was so flustered, he forgot what he was saying completely. Tori shook her head with a grin.

"I'm teasing you dear William, now shall we go?" Again she took an arm from each gentleman, who courteously escorted her to an awaiting carriage which took the unlikely trio to the most unlikeliest of places. The Swann mansion.

"Miss Elizabeth is expecting me." She murmured to the maid who answered the door. The maid looked at her wide-eyed in understanding, and pointed towards the library. Tori nodded courteously. Will and Jack followed her. Amidst the throng of guests, they were barely given a second glance. As they entered the library, Will saw a strangely familiar girl on the couch. She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. Will's heart tore in two and he stepped hesitantly towards her.

Tori stepped out from behind the door and tugged at Jack Sparrow's sleeve, indicating they should leave. He followed her out, and quietly closed the doors behind them.

The wedding was beautiful. The bride and groom looked adoringly at each other throughout the entire, tedious ceremony. The happy couple stood before the great bell on the catwalk of the fortress overlooking the sea, while the guests sat on decorated white benches... all the guests, but one. A strange figure lingered in the archway, leaning casually against the frame. It watched with a bitter, self-mocking expression. The final vows were said, the rings and kisses exchanged. Will and Elizabeth turned joyously to face the crowd, and the shadow in the archway silently turned and vanished.

Her ship had been tied to the pier just after the reception before the wedding ceremony. She planned to leave before anyone knew it was there, and before anyone knew it was gone. Tori unlooped the lines and raised the sails to escape the little port, fingering the oil-stained wheel she knew so well. She cast one look back at the fortress as she turned for the cliffs, and saw two figures watching after her- one in a large white dress.

"Well that was lovely now wasn't it?"

Tori whipped about, and saw a body lounging in a makeshift hammock with a hat over their face. Captain Sparrow tilted his hat back and grinned mischievously. Tori opened her mouth, then closed it, shaking her head.

"What do you want Jack?"

"You were supposed to give up the location of the ship after the gala. And I'm not leaving until I've got it."

Tori kept a perfectly straight face.
"You've got me Jack. The ship is just now off the coast of Port Royal."

"Good, then I'm kidnapping you and if you'll just be a good lass and take me back to Tortuga we can be rid of this whole little mess, savvy?"

Tori looked at him impishly.

"As long as I get to be captain,"

"Then we have an accord!" Jack leapt to his feet and spit on his hand, extending it with a grin. Tori rolled her eyes and mimicked the ritual. Their hands slapped, and the deal was set.

Tortuga swam into sight just as the sun was sinking, setting the town on fire with it's luminous hues. Trance-like, Tori automatically steered to the port she knew so well with her good arm. It was still too painful to do anything strenuous with the other. Idly she touched the wound. It was healing well- no infections or tearing. She was so lost in her own thoughts, she neglected to hear Jack creep up behind her.

"Are you certain you'll be alright?"

Tori started, but easily regained her composure. "Of course, Captain Sparrow." She replied indifferently, pulling her arm sharply away from her side.

"That's not what I meant love." He countered solemnly. He turned her away from the wheel and looked critically at her eyes. She stared at him defiantly and aloofly, as if she hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about.

"Pirates steal, they thieve they ravage, destroy,"

"Drink up me hearties yo ho." Tori finished cheekily. Jack's eyebrows raised, "It was noble of you lass, and pirates aren't a noble crew.."

"I invested far too much in him, for her not to appreciate it." She defended herself cooly. "I shipped Norrington to Port Nyssia for revenge, and I put in to much effort for Will to get that antidote. I had to force him and Elizabeth together."

"Force?"

"Love sure as hell wasn't going to do it."

They stood there, with their faces mere inches apart, challenging the other to stand down.

"Now where exactly did you want me to let you off?" Tori asked cooly.

"Right 'ere will be fine thank you lass."

Tori looked curiously at the pirate. He tipped his hat, and reached to take something in hand. "Love did it, on both accounts." A hint of a smile played on his lips as the lass stared at the insanity of the cryptic message. He tugged sharply on a line and Tori gasped as he flew crazily into the air. She heard shocked curses and yells as Jack Sparrow swung out over open water, and Tori ran to the side of the ship, amazed at her sudden care for the idiotic buccaneer. He dropped rather ungracefully onto his own ship. "It'll be a blessing to never see you again on these waters Captain Diablo!" The swashbuckler called with a sweeping bow.

Tori's line swung limply back to The Bängala, lowering her sail in the process. Despite herself, she smiled. Perhaps, she thought as she turned to leave the town, Perhaps Captain Diablo should take a vacation for awhile. This has been quite the adventure. She listened to the crashing silence around her, soothing her, cleansing her, healing her heart and soul. She smiled an odd little half smile.

I wonder, She thought idly spinning the wheel, What would the world say to Captain Icarus and The Daedalian Opus…

A haunting tune came over the waters, caught lightly caught in the gentle breeze as the Black Pearl faded into the night.

"We're devils and black sheep, and really bad eggs…"

Almost to herself, Tori ended the verse in a sweet, minor key,

"Drink up me hearties yoho!"

dadada da dadada da dadada da dadadaaaa

dadada da dadada da dadada da dadadaaaa…

ROLL CREDITS!

Written By Leela Sevateem

Inspired by Tori Marian

PoTC Characters Borrowed from Disney™

Chapter Titles taken from Various Places

Special Thanks To…

My Computer

and Anyone Else I've Forgotten!

Thankee for stickin' with me matees, and remember, you can still review and criticize brutally previous chapters! Leela

FIN