Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

"Christina, what are you doing here?" Will asked, as I looked around a bit nervously. As soon as I stepped into the room, it seemed like it was far too small. Will rustled around behind me to put on a shirt, to my great dismay and relief.

"It's a bit of a long story, Will," I said, standing in the middle of the room and not knowing what to do with myself. After all, if I was caught here my reputation would be ruined. Just my very presence, even without anybody knowing, was a risk because I would constantly be on edge.

However, Will didn't seem to mind all of that. He walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eyes. Either he didn't know what that did to me, making my knees weak in a most infuriating way, or he was just a very cruel man and had done it on purpose. Neither changed the fact that we were standing alone in the shop and I was in a soaking wet white shirt.

Now here's the thing about white shirts when they're wet, if you didn't know. They tend to be a bit...transparent. And even in the dying glow of the fire that fact was evident. It was also a fact that Will didn't seem to keen on trying to avoid.

I shrugged his hands off nervously, stepping away and pacing around the room. I was freezing, every inch of me was soaked through. "Will, you wouldn't happen to have...a room I could go into and change...would you? And maybe some dry clothes, perhaps? It's rather cold," I chattered, thinking for a moment that it wasn't the greatest idea for me to come here. If I hadn't been quite so impulsive, like Mary says, I could have simply woke up early tomorrow and gone into town to explain to Will about the whole situation with the Commodore. And Mary, being the sensible one, couldn't have told me that instead? No, of course not, and now I stand in the middle of the shop with Will's eyes following me back and forth because I'm practically naked.

At least he cant get upset with me over that whole bit with the Commodore. All those blokes saw were my legs.

And what is it with public nudity? Am I a magnet for it or something?

I cleared my throat, crossing my arms over my chest, "Will? Clothes? Have you any?" I asked impatiently. He blinked,

"No, I'm afraid I don't, they're hanging up to dry as well," he said. I groaned and pulled my own clothes out of the bag I had taken. They were damp, but not so wet that they wouldn't dry over night. I hung them up along side Will's, and wondered fleetingly how in the world I would manage to get into my corset tomorrow. Of course I could make a fashion statement and not wear the corset at all, but the fact that my father would kill me deterred me from extreme excitement at the idea.

I also pulled my torn shift out from my bag, holding it up. It was the only thing that I brought with me that was suitable for sleeping in. I looked up and Will was still watching me closely. By now, I was beyond irritated.

"William Turner, if you truly treasure the ability of sight, I suggest you look away before I scratch out your eyeballs. Honestly, even the Commodore was just a tad more polite," I snapped. Will looked shocked, and then angry, grabbing me by the arms and growling, "If you wish to stay here, Miss Swann, I suggest you explain yourself." I glared up at him and tried to wrench my arms away, to no avail.

"I will gladly explain exactly what I meant if you let go. The whole reason that I came here was to explain what I bloody meant," I said, and he let me go. I rubbed my arms angrily, not looking at him but instead turning and hiding behind a pillar so I could change into the damn shift that got me into this mess in the first place.

As I pulled my shirt over my head I saw the angry red marks on my arms where Will had gripped me so hard. I bit my lip and pulled my shift over my head quickly, now extremely angry. Not only was I forced to duel with the Commodore, by men, but I was also forced to lose to the Commodore while dueling in an outfit that not even the most slovenly wench would see fit to wear, in front of men, and then forced to run all the way to this shop in the dark and the rain, by my sister, who is the equivalent of a sniveling conniving rat of a man; and finally my fiancé, the love of my life, the other half of my heart, my soul mate, my Romeo and all that good rubbish that fiancés are supposed to be - squeezes my arms as if to send them clean off. My brain needed to take a breath after that sentence.

I think I've about had it with men, for one day. Too bad I'll be spending the night with one.

And once again my heart plummeted into my stomach with that thought. Because, really, I wasn't very angry with Will. It almost pleased me to see that he was so protective of me. And it is completely not in my nature to be pleased when a man wants to keep me safe and guarded and not looked at by other members of his species. So why did I feel my face get hot and my lips start to smile when I reflected on the angry look in his eyes as I mentioned the Commodore? It was pure jealousy, not feigned and that was proof enough that Will loved me. Wasn't it?

I walked out from behind the pillar to see him look up. He was staring at the pillar as if trying to bore a hole in it or something. I felt my face redden even further, half embarrassment and half pleasure equals total annoyance. He looked down at my legs, which were exposed up to the thigh, and then he looked away quite quickly, flustered.

"This is what I had to tell you about," I said. He didn't look up at me. I pulled my hair over my shoulder and tugged at it nervously. "I can explain," I said, but he didn't listen, merely walked over to wear his bed was in the corner of the room. Bed. Will. Cue panic.

He, however, must have been thinking something different as he pulled a blanket from his bed and brought it over to me, draping it over my shoulders and tugging me over to sit in front of the fire. He picked up the bellows and began to fan the fire, until it sprang up and warmed the whole room over again. Then he walked back and sat facing me, pulling my hands into his.

He reached over and pulled the side of my shift over, exposing my shoulder. I swallowed hard and dared not move. He traced his thumb over the marks from where he grabbed me, and met my eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered, fixing my makeshift night gown and pulling his hands away swiftly. I held on, no longer as nervous as before. Or maybe I'd reached a point where I was so nervous that I couldn't even feel it anymore. I didn't break eye contact with him, but tossed my hair back and leaned closer. Where these brazen acts came from, I'll never know.

"I'm afraid I quite like it here, Will," I said lowly, smiling at him. He swallowed and said nothing. I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder, arranging the blanket so that my legs were covered.

"The Commodore and his men came for dinner tonight," I said softly. He said nothing, only stroked my still wet hair and waited for me to continue. "I suppose I should first tell you that I'm not supposed to be here," I said.

"Well, I knew that," he scoffed, nudging me and imploring me to continue.

I sighed, "I'm not supposed to see you at all this week, I'm in trouble again," I said sadly. He started to laugh, to my indignation.

"What? What's so funny?" I demanded, pulling away and glaring at him. He pulled me closer, after having stopped laughing.

"You couldn't even wait a day, could you?" he asked, leaning in and kissing me on the mouth, taking advantage of the fact that it was open and about to make for a retort. Sly bastard.

After several mind boggling moments, he broke the kiss and we sat with our noses touching. I kept my eyes closed and swallowed, trying to remember exactly what I was going to say. I opened my eyes slowly, to see him smiling at me. Damn it, I definitely should not have come here tonight. Or any night of our still unmarried life. I would like to keep my reputation somewhat intact.

"You were saying?" he asked, a grin spreading over his lips. I shoved him away and stood up.

"I'll never get through with the story if you keep on interrupting to laugh at me or kiss me or what have you," I scolded, trying desperately not to laugh. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back down next to him.

"You were telling me, I think, how your fine nightgown got to be like this," he hinted, touching my leg gently and meeting my eyes. I bit my lip and tried very hard not to shriek "Take me, Will Turner, I'm yours!" because the tension in this room was reaching very high levels and it was suddenly much to hot and I would have to run out into the rain to clear my mind up.

With my luck, it's probably stopped raining.

"I'd appreciate it if you tried to remember that I have a reputation to keep, Will," I said shakily. He looked ashamed and made to move away. I didn't stop him, and I think he looked hurt, but instead I arranged the blanket over my legs and turned to him.

"Anyway, as I was saying. The Commodore came to sup with us and I was forced to attend yet again. I really would have preferred to stay in my room and read, but since I am such a devoted daughter I decided that I would comply to grace my guests with my presence."

Will grinned at me. "Which of course means you were a nightmare all through dinner, right?"

I took a breath and went on, ignoring his very accurate statement. "And it was going well except for the fact that it seemed like Gillette, the First Mate, do you remember? Yes, well he it seemed wanted a good deal more of my presence than I was willing to give."

At this, Will looked angry but I held up a hand and he let me continue.

"So then somehow, I'm not quite sure, we got to the topic of my learning how to duel and quite well, thanks to you," I added the compliment to try to calm him down, "And then Elizabeth decided that it would be a good idea if she suggest a demonstration. And my father agreed, and then it was set that I would duel with the Commodore after we were finished eating. And that is how I ended up in such a state of disgrace and undress in front of the Commodore and his men," I said hastily, and except for the last few words the whole thing seemed very trivial and foolish of me to run all the way here to tell him.

"Well, I suppose the most important question is -"

"I really didn't want to, Will, I swear, they made me! I mean, I would have never, ever worn something like that in front of anyone but you, and that would even have to be after we're married!" I said, scared that he would upset and angry and call me a wench and call off the wedding.

"Which is why the most important question is -"

"Please don't be upset, Will, I'm so sorry and I swear no matter what my father says or what my sister does or even if its for the bloody King of England or what not himself I will never do such a thing, I promise!" I said, to my horror I started to cry. I really must have been extremely overtired to cry over such a thing, but alas, what can one do?

"I was going to ask you if you won," Will said gently, pulling me into his lap and kissing me on the forehead. I sighed and looked up at him, my nose must have been running and my eyes puffy and red and I'm sure I looked entirely enticing, but Will just smiled and brushed my wet hair out of my eyes. I smiled at him, "Will you be very upset if I say no?"

"No?" Will gasped, mock appalled. I smiled at him and shook my head slowly.

"For a powdered, puffy mongrel, he really is very good," I said, bowing my head in shame.

Will smiled, "Does that mean that he could even defeat me?" he teased.

I laughed, "Will, I defeated you."

"That's only because I let you win."

"Oh really? Do you fancy another duel, Mr. Turner?" I demanded. He laughed and pulled me up.

"As a matter of fact, I do, Miss Swann," he said. I scowled at him.

"You would take advantage of a tired, soggy old lady who dueled once today and ran all the way here in the rain? That isn't very charitable."

Will didn't smile at that, and said, "You know I would not take advantage of you, Christina," He led me over to the bed so that I almost howled "Would not take advantage of me, my arse!" but stopped and stood in front of it.

"I'll sleep by the fire, you take the bed," he said. He took a pillow for himself, and a small blanket, leaving me with the large, newly quilted one. He must have made a nice sum of money on those last few orders, because the quilt really was quite nice.

I sat on the bed a bit uncomfortably as he kissed me on the cheek to say goodnight and left to lay by the fire to watch it burn out. I shifted uneasily and lay down, trying to ignore how the whole bed smelled like him (which was better than one would think, considering bathing is not always a daily habit for blacksmiths) and how my cheek burned and I was restless. I could hear him breathing as I watched his silhouette by the fire and it struck me as funny that it was not the first time I'd been alone in a room at night with Will. It happened before, at Tortuga, and Jack had practically passed out from the hard day of commandeering a ship and drinking a lot of alcoholic beverages.

I sighed and rolled over a few times, not finding a comfortable spot. "Will," I whined.

"Hmm?" he said, pretending to be half asleep and failing miserably.

"I cant sleep," I groaned, sitting up.

Will said nothing for a while and then barked "What would you like me to do about it?" I winced, knowing that it was a very awkward situation that we were in. It wouldn't do for him to lay with me in the same bed, even in the most innocent of ways, but I wondered if it would be okay if I lay on the floor.

"I'm sorry if I caused any trouble coming here," I said quietly, feeling very shy.

Will sighed, "You're no trouble, love, but why did you feel that you had to run all the way here just to tell me about your day?"

"I thought you would be upset with me," I said.

Will swore under his breath, "Why would I be upset at something like that?" I could tell he was aggravated with me. I would be aggravated with me too.

"Because my sister was planning on coming here and telling you what had happened, except she would have said it differently," I said awkwardly, wishing I had never even started the conversation to begin with. If I was bright, I would have not even come, and trusted Will the way I told Elizabeth I did. And then a thought struck me - what if Elizabeth had wanted to make me come here? Since when did she become such a devious little thing? And since when had I played right into her hands?

"Do you really think that I would believe her?" Will asked. I didn't say anything. He would be so upset with me if he knew that I did. Which I think he did know, but just wasn't saying.

"I feel awful that you have to lay on the floor, Will," I whispered.

I watched him groan angrily and sit up, "Cant do anything to help that, Christina," he said, sitting stiffly.

I got up and walked over to him, taking the quilt with me. "It's cold over there," I said, because the bed was on the opposite side of the room and the heat from the fire barely reached it.

"Would you like me to take the bed then?" he asked, starting to rise. I shook my head and knelt next to him.

"You cant just sleep with that tiny rag," I said, nodding towards his blanket. Will swallowed. I smiled at him, "I've had a hard day," I said, stretching out next to him and putting my head on the pillow, that, I realized, was big enough for the both of us, but not too big. My sister's huge head certainly wouldn't have fit on it.

Will laid down next to me and I turned around so my back was to him and his arm around my waist, the big quilt covering us both. I watched the fires dance down until only dull embers remained. "Good night, Will," I whispered, closing my eyes.