Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 1 of Jaded. I do apologize for taking so long to get this very first chapter up, but I have been trying my best to get this chapter up and I hope that you guys won't be disappointed with what is written. Without further ado Chapter 1 of Jaded.

Chapter 1

Rose easily put a robe over her nightgown to cover everything to make sure she was decent. She looked up hearing a knock on the door.

"Rose? Are you decent?" Her father's voice rang out causing the young woman to go to the door.

Rose opened the door allowing her father to come into the room with some maids.

"Early riser as always." He said with a smile as the curtains were opened in her room allowing the light to come into the room. "It's a beautiful day. I have a gift for you."

Rose came closer to her father, her cheeks flushing some as he had called her an early riser. She always had been and she wasn't about to change how she was when it came to sleeping in. "A gift?"

He opened the box he had and revealed a beautiful pink dress.

"Oh, father, it's beautiful."

"Isn't it?"

"The occasion…"

"The Ceremony is today…"

Rose went behind the curtain to change into the dress.

"I was hoping that you would wear this dress for the Ceremony."

"The ceremony? You mean…" Rose questioned poking her head out to see her father.

"Captain Norrington's promotion ceremony." He said with a smile knowing that she would happily agree to it. At least, that was what he had hoped that she would do.

Rose let out a gasp as the maids began to tighten her corset around her middle. "I will father."

Her father smiled proudly as he waited for his eldest daughter to be ready for the ceremony.

"Commodore Norrington, as he?s about to become! A fine gentleman, don?t you think? He fancies Elizabeth, you know."

Rose closed her eyes letting out a gasp at the maids tightened her corset even more.

"Rose? How's it coming?"

"It's difficult to say."

"I'm told it's the latest fashion in London."

"Oh… women in London must've learned not to breathe." She said letting out another loud gasp of pain.

"I must go check on Elizabeth and wake her if she's not awake. I am pleased to hear that you wanted to wear the dress."

"Yes father, it's indeed beautiful…" She said softly as the maid continued to work on getting her ready for the day. She heard the footsteps of her father leaving the room and let out a shaky breath. Her heart pounded in her chest thinking that James Norrington liked her younger sister, but then again, she didn't blame him. She knew her younger sister had bloomed into a beautiful young woman, a beautiful young woman that any man would be glad to have.

JADED

Rose slowly came down the stairs following her father to see the visitor that her father was expecting. She bit her lip knowing it was the boy that they had saved from the water all of those years ago.

"Ah, Mr. Turner! It's good to see you again!"

Will turned to Governor Swann when he heard his name being called. He swallowed the lump in his throat when he saw that Rose was behind her father. He knew that he and Rose didn't see eye to eye due to knowing that he fancied Elizabeth. "Good day, sir. I have your order." Will said, putting the presentation case on the table before opening it. Inside of it is a beautiful sword and scabbard. Will carefully took it out reverently, before handing it over to Governor Swann.

He pulled the sword from the scabbard and inspected it.

"The blade is folded steel. That's gold filigree laid into the handle. If I may -" Will took the sword from Governor Swann, before balancing it on one finger at the point where the blade met the guard. "Perfectly balanced. The tang is nearly the full width of the blade." With practiced ease, he flipped the sword, catching it by the hilt before offering it back to Rose's father, bowing slightly.

"Impressive... very impressive. Ah, now, Commodore Norrington is going to be very pleased with this." Rose's father said as he put the sword back into its scabbard and handed it to Will. "Do pass my compliments on to your master."

Rose watched Will's face fall. She could figure out that it wasn't his master that had made it, it was him that made it. She bit her tongue refusing to make a scene in front of her father, after all she was a proper lady, perhaps more proper than her own sister.

"I shall. A craftsman is always pleased to hear his work is appreciated -" Will turned and he stopped speaking, staring past both Rose and her father, his eyes landing on Elizabeth who was now standing on the stairs.

Their father turned to face both Rose and Elizabeth. "Ah, Elizabeth… Rose, you both look absolutely stunning."

Will tried to say something but gave up, smiling to himself and nodding.

"Will! So good to see you!" Her hand went to something that was hidden that caused Rose to raise her brow.

Rose tilted her head a little wondering what Elizabeth was hiding from them.

"I had a dream about you last night."

Rose let out a breath, of course Elizabeth was going to allow her mouth to wander off with her again, not fully thinking it through before she said something.

"About me?"

"Elizabeth , is that entirely proper for you to…?"

"About the day we met. Do you remember?" Elizabeth said, completely ignoring her father.

Rose closed her eyes and gripped onto her fan tightly as she tried to take a shallow breath.

"How could I forget, Miss Swann?"

"Will, how many times must I ask you to call me 'Elizabeth'?" She asked disappointedly looking at Will.

"At least once more, Miss Swann, as always."

"There, see, at least the boy has a sense of propriety. Now, we really must be going." Their father said, taking the case from the table, before handing it to a servant. He led the servants out the door.

Rose slowly turned on her heels following her father. She caught up to him easily. "Father… are you sure that it is wise to allow Commodore Norrington to ask for Elizabeth's hand in marriage? She is still a fairly young father…"

He turned and faced his daughter, seeing the look on her face. "Rose, my little bud… I know you worry, but he is the perfect fit for her."

Rose looked down sadly.

"Unless there is something you wish to tell me, Rose… Do you have feelings for Commodore Norrington?"

Rose swallowed the lump in her throat knowing that her father was so set on James marrying Elizabeth. "No, father, I do not fancy Commodore Norrington…" She looked up, putting a fake smile upon her face that looked real to him. "He'll make a proper woman out of her…"

He helped her into the carriage.

Rose took a shaky breath, closing her eyes. She couldn't lose it, not now, not with how close they were to the ceremony and she wasn't about to mess up the ceremony by being bitter about the whole proposal that was going to happen. Sometimes she wished that he had grown to care for her more due to the fact he was rather caring when she was fifteen. Now at the age of 23 there was no way that Commodore Norrington would look her way.

Elizabeth got into the carriage with her father's help before their father got into the carriage. She looked over her shoulder at Will as they began to move away from their home.

CBPCBP

British soldiers marched into the courtyard of the fort, taking their places for the ceremony.

Rose bit her lip softly as she fanned herself with the pale green fan that her father had gotten to go with her dress. Her eyes locked on the front of the fort.

"Two paces, march!"

The soldiers divided into two columns, obeying the order.

"About face!"

The soldiers turned towards each other.

"Present arms!"

The soldiers obeyed the orders.

James Norrington came out into view.

Rose bit her lower lip softly as she watched him move with ease down the two columns of soldiers and moved towards where her father waited for him.

With choreographed precision, her father removed the sword and scabbard from its case and presented it to him in full dress.

James accepted the sword, executing a flourishing slute, first at Governor Swann, then to the officers, and finally the audience, that assembled beneath the hot glaring sun.

Rose came over to her sister slowly taking in the sight of her 20 year old sister.

Elizabeth winced, discreetly trying to adjust the corset through the material of her dress trying to hide her discomfort.

"You look terrible… did they tighten it too much?"

Elizabeth looked over at her sister, fanning herself weakly.

Rose touched her sister's cheek softly. "You should try to find a place to sit down and try to catch…"

James came over to the two women, a small smile on his face that was more forced than anything. "May I have a moment?" He asked Elizabeth to extend his arm to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth eyed her sister seeing the look of hurt. She carefully took his arm and he led her away from her sister.

Rose looked down sadly, tears stinging the back of her eyes. She couldn't bring herself to cry. She knew that this was most likely and proper of Elizabeth being the best choice for James, and that was what hurt the most. She knew something that her father didn't know, Elizabeth didn't like James, like she did. She was more interested in the strapping lad that they had saved from the water 8 years prior.

Her head shot up when she heard James yelling for her sister. She quickly picked up the skirts of her dress and rushed elegantly to where James had taken her sister. She saw him on top of the parapet preparing to dive.

Lieutenant Gillette grabbed his arm. "The rocks, sir! It's a miracle she missed them!"

James shook his arm off looking down. He jumped down and ran down towards the docks to get Elizabeth safely back to her family and back to him.

Rose looked over the parapet and saw the rippling waves. She closed her eyes, her face paling.

"Don't worry, miss." Lieutenant Gillette said, looking over at Rose. "We'll bring your sister back to safety."

Rose weakly nodded her head only in hopes that Gillette was right.

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This is the end of Chapter 1 of Jaded. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I'll try to update soon. Hopefully this time around this will be better than the one that was priorly written. Until next time guys.