A/N: Of course these characters are not mine! They belong to Disney! please read and review! Thanks!
As the dawn broke over the Caribbean, Commodore James Norrington looked out onto the choppy sea, his brow set firm in concentration. The events of the last few months were days and nights he played over in his head in the early morning quiet or in the still of dark when it was his watch. The sea was big, and so were his thoughts, like the waters, swirling around in his mind, sometimes creating a current too big to handle.
They'd just caught a low-alarm, almost wannabe pirate ship off the coast. There hadn't been trouble in months…not since…the day Jack Sparrow had come to town. The day he'd become a Commodore. During the installation drill, he knew his life was about to change in a big way. True, his world had been shaken up, but things had gone so much different than he'd imagined. From his very proposal to Elizabeth Swann, nothing had gone the way it was supposed to have.
He could see her again, falling off the bloody cliff into the rocky water below. And later, the look in her eyes…when he knew she could never love him. He did love her, was the thing. He knew his love had not been overt—a stolen kiss or a wayward caress while no one was looking was not his style, and he couldn't feel comfortable with that. It just…wasn't done.
He'd been foolish to think a girl like her could want what he had to give. He didn't swash or buckle. He was about order and the law, the seas and guarding the interests of the King. God and country. How was he to compete with a bloody pirate…with intrigue and suspense, with unrestraint and passion that was too unbridled for his abilities or comprehension.
He wasn't a stupid man. He'd moved quickly through officer ranks after joining the navy. Well…he looked at his men. That hadn't been too hard. But still, he'd had a natural knack with maps and nautical navigation that had made him stand out. He was away a lot, but he made good money, and his social status was clear.
There were women out there who wanted what he had. But it was a matter of wanting them in return. He'd loved Elizabeth. He was serious when he said it—he didn't lie about things like that. In the end…she hadn't seemed to care at all about what it meant to him, breaking their engagement. And now she was with William Turner and they were…getting married…
He heard the sounds of some of the men coming up from their quarters. He stood straighter and dusted off invisible lint from his uniform. A hand ran across the gold brocade, and then he re-buttoned one of the shiny gold buttons. He readjusted the tri-cornered hat, the wig that showed his status as a high-ranking naval officer. All the pieces of finery that helped define who he was. He wasn't about to change this late in the game. Even for Miss Elizabeth Swann.