Disclaimer: This is the second time I'm posting this story, since it got removed from the site for reasons known to me...anyways, since I have a hunch that it MIGHT have been the "chat/script" format of my past disclaimers, I'm going to have to do away with all the fun disclaimer and be boring. I have to conform and say that I own nothing related to Pirates of The Caribbean and in fact the only things I do own fiction-wise are the characters that I come up with. bows
Summary: Christina and Will are now engaged. Yay!!! So then they get married and have kids and live happily ever after, right?…Not quite.
A/N: sigh School is almost over…just two days more now…(but by the time I post this chapter, school will probably have ended). My best friend is moving to Cali by the end of June or beginning of July, so I'm pretty much unhappy, and trying not to think about it…this chapter is dedicated to her, even though she doesn't read it anymore cuz its "too mushy and too much about stupid Will Turner" (her words, not mine - obviously). In fact, this whole story is dedicated to her because I am putting everything I can into it…I worked so hard on this story and its part of my self-prescribed therapy, so I don't go insane or something…and I'm going to need a lot of it, soon, to lose myself in Port Royal because its going to be very lonely, very soon here.
"'But a woman, not an army,'" Will slurred, mocking the Commodore's previous words as he sat alone in the pub, ignoring or perhaps not noticing the scandalous looks that the many barmaids were sending his way. He sat with his second rather large mug of rum in front of him, looking at it bleakly.
"Obviously, esteemed Nommodore Corrington does not know Christina at all," he continued, looking into the rum as if it had rebuked him. A tall, large man sat in a corner watching Will. He was deciding whether or not he should go over…he probably should, because he didn't want the lad to be completely knackered before making his proposition heard. The man nodded and walked over, sitting rather abruptly in front of young Mr. Turner. Will looked up and blinked a few times.
"Gibbs?" he asked. Gibbs nodded, taking the mug of rum away from Will, who didn't seem to notice. I had hardly seen Will drunk, if ever, and would sorely begrudge my missing this time, in years to come. Will had consumed a large amount of rum in a short amount of time, and was piss drunk - and I'm sure I would have found it all quite amusing had I been there.
"Aye. 'Eard yer woman's run away from ye," Gibbs said bluntly. Will looked angry, and stood up unsteadily as if ready for a fight. "Say it a-agin'" he muttered. Gibbs sighed, "Sit down, yeh great yuppie. An awful lot ye've got to learn, if you can't even keep yer woman by yer side," Gibbs snorted. Will sat down, more because the room was spinning and he was feeling rather ill than because Gibbs told him to. "What do you want?" he asked. Gibbs grinned. "I've been sent here by yer old friend Sparrow…the girl's with 'im. I'm to take you to Tortuga and await their arrival." Gibbs said, straight to the point.
"Come again?" Will said. Gibbs rolled his eyes.
"Yer woman. With Sparrow. Tortuga." he said. Will nodded slowly, mulling this over in his mind. The pub seemed to swim before him…maybe his eyes were watery. "She left me, Gibbs," Will said sadly. Gibbs nodded and patted the young'n on the arm roughly, a manly gesture but comforting nonetheless. "Yeah, well you were a bit of an idiot, weren't yeh?" he asked. Will nodded.
"I don't deserve her, Gibbs…maybe I should just let her go,"
"No!" Gibbs said loudly.
"What?" Will asked, startled.
"Ye can't just let her go. Where's yer pride, man? Ye can't let a woman run out on ye…makes yeh somewhat of a cuckold, doesn't it?" he taunted.
"Does she have another man?" Will asked, his eyes flashing angrily. Cuckold, indeed! If there was another man, if I had left him for another, he'd run after me all the faster and bring me back kicking and screaming, he swore to himself. He would swear it on his late mother's grave. Ironic, I would later remark, that he'd rather bring me back from another man than bring me back because I'd run of my own free will. But such is the puny mind of males, who's pride is in there manhood, and they'll do whatever they must to protect both their pride and…the aforementioned…
"She does not have another man, though yeh'd deserve it if she did. She told me, rather reluctantly mind ye, what went on between the two of yeh. Right wrong of you to claim her sister right in their garden - and under poor Miss Christina's balcony! Sorry old bloke aren't ye, William? Everyone expected better of yeh, even Jack." Gibbs said.
"I know…" Will moaned, his face in his hands.
"Ah, look at the poor mister, all alone here," said another voice, a sugary, shamelessly flirtatious voice that could only belong to one of the barmaids. And behold, enter Ariel, pressing herself into Will's back and running her hands along his chest. He pushed her off roughly, and she looked mildly affronted, but walked around to seat herself in Gibbs's lap. She glared at Will.
"Well, William," Gibbs said, ignoring Ariel except to play idly with the strings on her bodice. She seemed not to notice. Will looked a bit perturbed, but decided that he would ignore it if they were. He made a reach for his mug of rum, but Gibbs smacked his hands away distractedly.
"Yeh'll be comin' with me tonight, o' course. We have to get to Tortuga soon, but Christina'll be with the Cap'n for a while…he wants to show 'er the sights and such," Gibbs said. Will looked upset, "But I have to see her soon…I have to let her know…"
"Why don't ye tell me yer version of the story…I expect yeh jus' fell on her sister's lips, eh? Pull of the moon and all that?" he asked, rather sardonically. "I'm not gonna pretend that I've never had a mistress here or there…plenty a men have, Jack most of all, he'd tell yeh…but neither of us has ever been married, at least I haven't…don' know about Jack, tell ye the truth…but I can say for sure that we'd at least have married the poor mare aforehand…"
"She's not a horse, Gibbs," Will said nastily. It seemed to him that Gibbs was unusually talkative tonight.
"And neither of us expected it of ye, William, took old Jack off guard and there's precious little that does that, mind ye. Right upset he was when Christina told him why it was she was running, said she was awful hurt."
Will lowered his head guiltily.
"Reckon Jack's got a rather large bone to pick with you, very fond of Christina as he is. Says that she's the only woman of somewhat noble blood who wasn't a complete puff. Bloody good with a sword too, but I suppose that was yer handiwork."
"I din't mean to kiss 'Lizbeth, Gibbs…and I certainly din' mean for Christina ta' see," he said, slurring his words again.
"Jes' explain it to me, mate," Gibbs said sympathetically.
I would hear this version many times, how Elizabeth had walked up to Will in the garden and he'd greeted her cordially, asking her how she was and what not. And she'd walk up to him, getting a bit closer than was entirely proper, but he'd just think she was being friendly. Will knew how he hurt her when he chose me instead, and didn't want to say anything that would offend her.
"I miss you something awful, Will, we never talk anymore." Elizabeth said. Will raised his eyebrows, "But Elizabeth, we hardly spoke in the first place, even when I -"
"Even when you what, Will?" Elizabeth asked, peering up at him, now toe to toe, through her long lashes. He swallowed. "When I thought I was in love with you." Elizabeth frowned. "Is that what my sister tells you, that you were never in love with me?" she demanded angrily, tears shining in her pretty eyes. Will seemed apprehensive.
"That's what I believe." he said quietly. She turned away, starting to cry. He reached out an put a hand gently on her shoulder, "I'm sorry Elizabeth," he said. She didn't turn around.
"I was in love with you, William, and when you came to rescue me I thought…you made me believe…that you loved me too. How could you do something so cruel, make me believe you loved me and then turn around to my sister?" she demanded. He turned her around gently. "I believed I loved you, Elizabeth, but I didn't…would you have me let you believe that all your life, even if it wasn't true?"
"Yes!" she cried.
"And doesn't your sister deserve a bit of happiness as well?" he asked.
"Not by taking mine," Elizabeth whimpered, pushing herself into his arms. He put his arms awkwardly around her, torn. Here was the woman he has believed himself to love for eight years, thin and shaking in his arms. He wished she'd stop crying. He couldn't think, her blond head nestled against his chest, her thin arms tight around his waist. "Will," she sighed. He pushed her away gently, thinking of the one he truly loved; thinking of me, though I wouldn't believe it for a long time. The spirited raven haired woman who was not as thin as her fragile sister, who was quick witted and unruly, who was strong and rebellious; and yet so tender and shy when he was with her. The woman who could be sardonic and sarcastic, but that made him love her all the more, even when she frustrated him within an inch of his patience. Elizabeth was brave when she had to be, quite impressive at times on the Pearl, when she had been captured. But her sister, Will thought, is brave all the time - to the point of it being a fault. And yet, he told himself, that was the woman he wanted to spend his life with, even as he stared into the perfect round eyes, shining with tears, of the porcelain doll, the Renaissance woman, the idyllic lady in front of him. He had promised to marry Christina, he reminded himself, wondering why he needed such reminders. He was sure of his love for me, and yet to have Elizabeth standing before him, in tears…
"And me? Do I have some claim to happiness?" he asked, thinking of me and our picnic together, or how many times he'd taught me the art of swordplay, remembering how we'd laughed even if I'd done horribly; or remember the first time I had actually beaten him. Remembering, guiltily now, how I had been so unconvinced of his love.
Elizabeth bent her head, "I could make you happy," she whispered. She felt so strange, she had been given everything that I had wanted all her life. She had had so many suitors all lined up, all the finest dresses and jewelry, Father doting on her every chance he got; and yet the one thing that she had wanted most in the world, to be Will Turner's wife…that was denied to her. It made her unreasonably angry. Vengeful, even. But it wasn't revenge, if she loved him. It was righteous, if she loved him. And she did, didn't she? Of course she did. He was the finest man in Port Royal, she was the one who had spotted him in the sea eight years ago, not me. Surely that must mean something! And Will, he had gone after her not quite so long ago, to save her. Perhaps he thought he owed me something, and that was why he pledged to marry me. That must be why…
Will smiled, and she took this to be a good sign. She started to laugh. He did too, quietly, unsure - and quite taken by surprise as she leaned over and pressed her lips to his.
"Just like that, then, eh? She professes her love to you…and you say yer with her sister…and then she kissed ye?" Gibbs asked. Will nodded slowly, not meeting his eyes. Gibbs didn't say anything for a long while.
"Can we please go to Tortuga now?" Will asked quietly, still not raising his eyes.
"Aye," Gibbs said, standing up and sending Ariel harrumphing on her way. "There's just one thing I have to ask ye, or there's no point in going…this girl, how far are you willing to go to bring her back?" he asked.
"I'd di-" Will broke off, de ja vu washing over him almost as much as the alcohol in the rum. "Anything. I'd do anything for her…" he said, not wanting to profess the same words he'd used for Elizabeth's rescue. Christina is different, Will thought. Gibbs smiled. "Aye," he said softly, and he led the way out of the pub.
"Gibbs? Eh…Gibbs was a bit besotted with that barmaid, Arianna I think her name was. He chose to stay in Port Royal for a bit, and he'll be meeting us at Tortuga, whenever I decide that its time to head there," Jack said, looking flustered but covering smoothly, a few more ridiculous hand motions thrown in than usual. I raised an eyebrow.
"I take it you haven't seen Ariel, then?" I asked. Jack looked insulted. "Is that 'er name then? And if I haven' seen the wench?" he asked. "Half her teeth are rotted out of her skull!" I said. Jack grinned, "So are mine, luv, but that doesn't make me any less of a catch now does it?" he asked. I said nothing, pursing my lips tightly. Jack waggled his eyebrows at me before swaggering up deck.
"Take a rest, luv, ye've had a hard couple of days," he said. I laid down beside Mary, holding a wet cloth to her head every now and then. She was asleep again, and felt a bit warm. I prayed that she didn't have a fever, but whenever she was awake she would insist that she was fine. Right before she hurled her guts up over the side of the ship, mind you. It was the fifth consecutive day of this, and even Anamaria had started to be sympathetic.
Five whole days I'd been away from Port Royal, and I wondered frequently about what everyone was doing. I wondered if my father was blaming himself as he usually did when things went wrong. He was silent and somber for months after my mother had left. I wondered how happy Elizabeth was, and if Will was still feeling guilty - guilty about my leaving, and guilty about his happiness with Elizabeth, which is what I was quite sure he was feeling. I felt myself get very angry when a thought of that, an anger that only covered up my rejected sadness. I wished…ah, but what I wished didn't seem to matter anymore, and nothing would come from dwelling on wishes.
But dwelling was all I ever seemed to do, even when Jack had called me up on deck to help with the sails or what not. I was slowly learning how to become part of a crew, but most of the time I was below, caring for Mary. Jack's crew didn't bother me about Will, he had forbidden it and they didn't seem to care much anyway. Anamaria looked at me sadly for the first few days, muttering very angrily about how men were dogs, and it helped a bit but not much.
Mary slept for most of the time, so I talked very little, except to Jack. Jack was a very good listener, in fact he rarely said anything. He listened about Will, looking thoughtful, and handed me his flask of rum. I broke the vow I'd made on the island that Barbossa had marooned Jack, Elizabeth and myself on so many weeks, perhaps months ago now…and I would drink rum slowly with the rest of them. Never enough to get piss drunk, but enough to wallow in my misery, which was perhaps worse. Even Jack caught on in the end, and I was cut off from the alcohol supply for a bit, until I was better on my feet.
"Jack, where are we going?" I had asked yesterday. He smiled indulgently at me. "Tha's the beauty of the Pearl, Christina. Nowhere…we don't have to go nowhere. Freedom, that's what this ship is. We'll sail around a bit, 'til yer more comfortable and Mary stop heaving her stomach over the side of my ship…then we'll head to Tortuga for a pick-me-up of sorts…and then who knows where else she'll take us?" he trailed off, referring to his pride and joy, the Black Pearl. I smiled, wishing that I could place all my happiness in something that couldn't betray me, like a ship. I wished, not for the last time, that I had been born a pirate. Like Anamaria, who seemed so very untouched by men. In fact, she scoffed at them.
"Scalawags, the lot of them. Only good for breeding purposes - a bit of dancing among the blankets is always a good thing, ye'll learn that soon enough, Princess," she said airily one evening, leering right back at the crew member who had stopped to grin at her. I felt myself blush, quite sure that I would never 'dance among the blankets' for sport.
It was strange, I'll admit, waking up to a rocking ship every morning, sleeping next to Mary because there were not many extra bunks and I'd rather not sleep with any of the crew. They did not accost Anamaria because they knew she was likely to castrate them, but neither Mary nor I has such reputations. I was well on my way to gaining one, however, snarling right viciously at one crew member who saw fit to grab me from behind as I stepped down from the rigging. I had elbowed him rather harshly in the gut, and there were chortles all around as he doubled over in pain…evidently my aim had been lower than expected. Jack grinned at me, and I shrugged back sheepishly. I couldn't help it if I didn't want a man to touch me again - ever, it seemed.
I tried to stop myself but I couldn't help but wonder if somewhere along this adventure I'd meet my mother, or at least come across her. I'd voiced this to Mary, not even telling Jack that my mother had run away with pirates because lord knows he'd probably want to find her or something - or, a bit worse, that he'd been her lover or something…as font as I was of Jack, I did not want him to have met my mother and had a roll in the hay somewhere along the way. Jack was notorious for being a great lover of women, many, many women, evidently.
Mary, containing herself for the time being, sighed. "Christina, we came here to get away from your past, not to go searching for it," she said. I nodded, hugging my knees to my chest and hiding my face. We were below and it was a stormy night, I was surprised that Mary wasn't doubled over again. We sat in silence, watching the solitary candle sway to and fro, probably not the wisest thing, as there were many flammable objects in the cabins.
The cabins had a musty, musky smell of far too many people in far too small a place. But for now, I realized, this was home. And I preferred it, even, over Port Royal. There was something tight-knit about this ship, and I was under the impression that grumble as they might, none of these sailors would be mutinous. They were, as I was, genuinely fond of their Captain. For all his eccentric ways and swaggering demeanor, he was a good Captain, never working the crew harder than was necessary. Among this group of men, and women, now, there was a general love of the sea, of the freedom that Jack knew the Pearl mentioned.
Even Mary was happier here, the times when she wasn't violently ill. Her slight fever had broken, and she was taking a liking to Jack. She still hadn't strayed out of the cabins yet, but when he came to visit she spoke to him, more animatedly than I'd seen her in a long while. In fact, the only other person she'd been this comfortable with, besides me, was probably Commodore Norrington.
The goings-on between the Commodore and my dear friend Mary was another thing that had me puzzled. I thought Mary a better judge of character, the fact that she could like a sniveling rat perplexed me. But she insisted that he was noble and good, and ever so nice to her when he had thought she was Mary Pearl, an upper class lady of Port Royal. I shrugged as she'd insisted this - perhaps there was a side of the Commodore he didn't show me, or that I didn't care to see.
I had stopped talking about Will, the very mention of his name made me feel, above all else now, extremely tired. I spent the calm mornings in the crow's nest when Jack didn't ask me to help steer or what not. I often just stared up at the sky, it had a strange affect on me; to be so high up, straight between the ocean and the clouds. I would spend hours sitting up there, thinking of nothing at all, if I was lucky. However, I was very often unlucky, and often the only think I could think about was the one thing I didn't want to have anything to do with anymore.
And yet I couldn't help it, it was as if I was a glutton for punishment, as if I reveled in heart ache. I would think of Port Royal, seeing not much harm in such a topic. But Port Royal would lead to the mansion, which would lead to my room, which would lead to the balcony over the garden…and then I would think of Elizabeth and Will…I suppose it is a good sign that I hardly cry anymore, at least. I think, dwell, brood for hours, and sigh. It is only when Anamaria climbs up the rigging to tug hard on my heart and bark at me to snap out of it, relying a message that Jack needs me for something, that I come down from the crows nest.
We'd been out sailing for a week and a half, and I'd been starting to smile more, laugh more. Mary had ventured out of the cabins on our two week mark, and had climbed a good few feet up the rigging three days later, stopping when she realized that she was still in her dress. We'd yet to go to Tortuga, where Jack promised that he would buy more suitable clothes for Mary. He said that in about another four days we'd be stopping by Tortuga for a mysterious 'pick-me-up', and I had a feeling it would be a new supply of the Caribbean's best rum, because we were running low. Jack, however, refused to tell me.
The hardest part about being on the ship, I think, was the diet. Unlike what Elizabeth had described, there was no stuffed pig and bread, no apples, and no wine. There was dried and salted meats, which left me parched, and hardtack. There was rum, which I was not allowed to go near, and ale. There was precious little fresh water, so Mary and I never bathed. It is amazing how humbling it is to go about without bathing for two and half weeks.
My hair had once again been diminished to a nest, closely resembling Jack's dreadlocks. I didn't bother trying to brush it, but Mary did, breaking the only comb that she'd brought with her from Port Royal. She eyed my hair nastily, as if it was her new nemesis. Oddly enough, her hair had stayed at it was, which might have been because she had tied it into such a tight braid that it was now stuck like that forever.
But now, it was a rough night, the ship was rolling this way and that and I could barely here what was going on above, the wailing of the wind was so loud. It wasn't as bad as it had been when we'd gone to rescue Elizabeth, but Mary, who had never experienced a storm at sea, was petrified. If I didn't keep her distracted, she was likely to faint. Unfortunately, I was running out of ideas.
There was a low rumble of thunder, and Mary bolted upright. "Its not very safe, is it, to be at sea when there's thunder and lightning?" she asked in a very high pitched voice. I grimaced, not thinking about what I was saying. "Mary, its not very safe to be at sea under the best of circumstances."
Mary threw her legs over the edge of the bed, and I scrambled up after her. "But the Pearl is the safest ship at sea, dear, we'll be fine!" I said hastily. The Pearl, seeming to love irony almost as much as I was beginning to detest it, groaned eerily. Mary trembled, "That is not a good sound, is it?" she whimpered. I sighed, putting a hand on her arm and trying to drag her back down to sit on the bed.
"We'll be fine, Jack's been sailing for longer than we've been alive," I said, and then was rather shocked because Jack never seemed quite old. He must be at least thirty-five! If I was twenty, well past the fifteen years of age when women reached adulthood, and he was friend's with Will's father…well then he is at least thirty-five indeed! I shook my head, Mary's frightened squawks as we stumbled around bringing me back to present time.
"Mary, sit down, try to relax…everything is all right, dear, you really just have to let it pass…in the morning it'll be as if it never happened,"
Many things would happen at once, in the next instant. There was a phenomenally loud clap of thunder, and Mary screamed, wrenching her arm out of my grip and disappearing up the stairs to the deck. I jumped up to follow her, but the ship gave a terrific lurch and I was thrown to the floor, tasting blood on my lip. Then the wind gave a mighty shriek, as if the devil himself were flying free tonight, and a heard a sound unlike any other I'd heard upon a ship - a whine as if a huge cloth were being pulled, and then a tear. I got up shakily and was thrown to the floor again, hitting my head this time and watching the candle fade slowly into darkness.
A/N: This chapter is shorter than usual, but I couldn't help it…I wanna stretch this story out, and I can't give ya'll too much in a single chapter! School's out, (hooray!) and I'm still in shock that my freshman year of high school is over (tear!), but hopefully I'll get a chance to update more frequently now…hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review, please, lovies!