Disclaimer: I still don't own PotC.

Apology:

Still staring out towards the horizon, Anamaria heard keys jingling in the lock of the cell door. Slowly, she brought a trembling hand to her throat. Rubbing her skin, she wondered how long it would be until the hemp rope hung from her neck. For years, Ana had lived the life of a pirate. She had faced so many battles at sea, any of which could have taken her life. Still, she never felt so close to the reaper as she did in this moment. Before, she had always faced death with her Captain at her side. Now, she face the hangman's noose, alone. She would stand in the center of Kingston's town square, in front of men and women who were at one time her neighbors and friends, and listen to a record of her crimes read aloud. Alone.

"Someone to see you, Miss."

Ana took a steadying breath. Someone come to gloat over the defeat of the Black Pearl, no doubt.

"That will be all," astern voice dismissed the marine guard.

"Aye, Sir." The guard disappeared and the visitor stepped into Ana's cell.

"Anamaria."

"James," Ana greeted, in spite of the lump growing in her throat. Hard enough that she had to face the honorable people of Kingston. She had to face the man who had been friend to her, and her family, for years. Ana turned and stared into the familiar blue eyes of Admiral James Norrington. Ever since he had joined the Royal Navy, James had sought to end piracy in the West Indies. He had very nearly succeeded, and now with the Pearl gone, hardly any pirates remained to stand in his way. He had won. She and Jack had lost.

Norrington stared evenly into her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Sorry?" Ana repeated the word. "Sorry for what, completely destroying the only home I had left or sorry that you're going to have to hang me?" She knew that their friendship had probably brought James to her cell. An Admiral would not normally lower himself to visit pirates in prison. Perhaps he wanted to see what matter of creature she had become, or maybe he just wanted to say "goodbye." Not that his motives really made any difference. He was the face of the law in Kingston, and he would ultimately be responsible for her execution.

"Annie lower your voice," he said, casting a worried glance over his shoulder. "I have no intention of hanging you."

"Losing your nerve," she goaded, not caring that her words were unnecessarily spiteful.

James sighed. "The crew that pulled you from the … wreckage thinks that you were a prisoner aboard the Black Pearl."

"I wasn't," Ana said, putting her hands on her hips. Did James know what he was asking her to do? Now, after watching her whole life, quite literally, go up in flames, he was asking her to deny that life. He was asking her to deny everyone who had been a part of that life. The crew, good men, had gone to Davy Jones' Locker defending that life, that freedom. How could she cheapen their sacrifice, Jack's sacrifice, by lying about who she was?

"I know that, but –"

"But, nothing."

"Damn it, Annie, haven't enough people died!" James pursed his lips and took a deep breath, having just committed the unspeakable act of cursing in the presence of a lady. Never mind that the lady was a pirate.

Ana bowed her head, suddenly seeing kohl-lined eyes staring back at her from the floor. Norrington was right. Enough people had died. The one man who's spirit she believed would never die was gone. What purpose would her death serve? She shook her head. What purpose would her life serve, without Jack? As his first mate, she had lived for him for so long. She had loved him for so long.

"Annie, what I meant was … that I'm sorry about … about Sparrow."

For a second, Ana's eyes flashed angrily at the thought of James presuming to know who Jack had been to her. What he had meant to her. Then, her expression softened. James may not have understood her feelings for the pirate Captain, but he did know that she loved Jack Sparrow, and he was sincere in his sympathies.

James stared past Ana, out to the harbor and the fast setting sun. "I never thought it would end like this," he said. "Much as I wanted to beat him, I always thought that Sparrow would outlive us all and die an old man lying on some beach drinking rum."

Ana smiled sadly at the mental image conjured up by James' words. She could see Jack reclining in the sun, bottle in hand. She had always hoped to be sitting next to him on that beach. "I miss him, already," she said, letting the tears slip from her eyes.

Turning back to the lady, Norrington placed his hand on her cheek, wiping the tears away with his thumb. "What will you do?"

"I have no ship and no money. I have no idea," Ana said, for the first time contemplating the rest of her life. She hardly had the desire to join another crew and stay a pirate. She had only turned to that life to be with Jack. She had learned to tend wounds from her father, perhaps she could live out her days as a nurse. But, would society accept her anymore? Did she even want to be a part of the "respectable" community?

"No need to figure it out right away," James said. "Come to the house, stay with us, for now."

"James, I – "

"I insist," he said. "Consider my hospitality an Admiral's humble apology."

TBC

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