If there was one thing that took some serious adjusting to about this place, it was how quiet everything was. Back home there was always some kind of ambient noise, even if it was just Netflix playing in the background, so she could ignore it while she read - forgetting her headphones for a train ride was a disastrous misfortune. There was none of that here. Especially thanks to how removed the house was from town. It was…strangely unsettling. Even back on the ship, and during her time in the forest, there had always been some kind of noise. The calls of the sailors as they worked, the lapping of the waves against the side of the ship, the chirping and buzz of wildlife. Here? Here there was very little. Almost nothing, especially during the day.

Her father used to chide her for relying on music to get through her workouts - for the way her headphones were surgically attached to her during them. 'What happens when there's no music available?', he would ask…to which she would snort, and retort with 'when would that ever happen?'. If he could see her now, he would laugh. To be fair, though, cardio sessions weren't high on her list of priorities these days. Not least because Norrington would probably burst a blood vessel if he decided to investigate a commotion coming from her room, only to find her doing star-jumps in her underwear.

But…it wasn't entirely without virtue. It was in that silence (three days in, to be exact), broken up only by the sounds of Hattie moving around the house as she saw to her work, or by Norrington's comings and goings, that Theo finally realised what had been gnawing at her on that first morning in the house. Her sleep was no longer disturbed.

No more did she close her eyes only to be immediately met with rocking and bobbing motions that threatened to send her seasick. In fact, the more she tried, the more she struggled to remember the last time it had happened. Had it happened at all, since she'd gotten here? It was difficult to say. She was certain that it hadn't on the ship - but most of her time spent 'sleeping' on the Interceptor could be categorized more as straight-up delirium addled spells of unconsciousness rather than sleeps. If there was any strange sensation of being at sea…well, she had been at sea. Still, she couldn't remember it. She remembered the fever, the nausea, the confusion. But not the strange anomaly that had followed her throughout her life thus far.

To her memory, it hadn't occurred out there in the rainforest, either. But she'd still been on the mend, and what sleep she did get was light - more of a doze, than anything else, too conscious of the potential ill-will she could meet from any direction. There were potential predators to worry about, yes, but those predators weren't limited solely to animals. She hadn't been so naive as to think that just because she'd been lucky enough to encounter little other than kindness here so far, that such was all she would encounter. A woman alone was a target anywhere, even in her time, but even more so here. Her mind had been more on that than her unique sleeping habits.

But finally, here and now, it had come to her attention…and given her even more to think about. Like she was in any danger of running out of matters to rake through her brain over and over until they were worn, ragged, and still as entirely without answers as they had been beforehand. If nothing else, the time here would make a philosopher out of her - she was becoming a master at considering questions that had no damn resolution to them at all. Still, it had to be connected. Didn't it? There was no way it was a coincidence, that she should be plagued with the sensation of being adrift at sea right up until she truly did find herself in that position. If that was the universe's way of warning her, though, she'd be giving whatever gods lurked out there two middle fingers for their vagueness.

That conclusion, though, dragged her kicking and screaming to another. Another that was even less comforting still. She'd been having these premonitions - if that was indeed what they had turned out to be - since long before she'd pissed off the fairies. Or perhaps since she thought she'd pissed off the fairies. Which meant this whole thing could be more than mischief-laden revenge.

It was that realisation that had her leaving the house. Not for good, not to go racing back to her jungle camp - just for a walk. It cleared her mind, it dispelled the weighty sort of nausea that was burrowing through her insides at the thought of what this newest possibility may mean, it gave her something to do (especially now that she had clothing that wouldn't make her look like the local nutcase)…and it wasn't without practical purpose. If those around her grew accustomed to her leaving the house and walking around town, it would be easier for her to do so without drawing unwanted, inconvenient, attention when it came time to attempt to make contact with Captain Jack.

It was that matter that she was considering when she came to a stop at the docks, scrutinising the horizon like Jack would sail in on it at any moment. It wasn't possible - she knew it wasn't. Captain Norrington was not yet Commodore Norrington, so if Jack did appear now he wouldn't be a welcome sight, anyway. That would mean that she had no idea how events would unfold and transpire, and this world was already dangerous enough for her (or it was certainly about to be) without her 'gift of foresight' turning out to be useless.

"Are you hoping to manifest your loved ones on the horizon?"

Turning her head, she saw her host himself had chosen to join her. She offered a snort as a response, which earned her a wince.

"Forgive me. That was an unkind thing to say," he grimaced.

"No, it's fine. Look - no tears or anything," she gave a smile that she hoped was reassuring "I just…I just hardly recognised you with the wig on."

Her teasing earned her a roll of his eyes, which told her exactly what he thought of her attempt to make it their new inside joke. But she liked to think it was meant to hold just a touch of endearment. She was probably wrong.

"I only meant that you seem troubled," he said, choosing to leave her comedic genius unacknowledged.

"That is the rumour," she tapped at her temple.

"That is not the sort of troubled to which I was referring," he replied drily "Although it is something I've been meaning to discuss with you."

"My lack of sanity?"

"The rumours."

He was visibly losing patience, along with the humour he initially had, with her determination to not take a single thing seriously…so she dropped it, straightening and adopting a look of what she hoped was frankness.

"Do they bother you?" She asked.

"The gossip of women holds no sway over me," he said, and he seemed sincere in his dismissal "But your plight has been brought to the attention of Governor Swann."

Her plight? Who was she, Jane Eyre, wandering the moors delirious and starving? But she had the distinct feeling that Norrington was working his way up to a point, so she kept her mouth shut.

"And so his daughter, Miss Elizabeth Swann, has expressed a desire to throw a dinner party to welcome you to Port Royal."

"…She has?" Her brow furrowed.

"She is a fine woman," he said in response to her scepticism "-Er, that is, I believe she will be a good friend to you here. Their approval - that of Miss Swann and her father - will go a long way at easing the…speculation surrounding you."

"The speculation doesn't bother me," she shrugged "They can say whatever they want."

…However, she realised upon pausing, it did rather bugger her plans of going unnoticed when the time would come.

"But that's very kind of them," she added quickly "As long as it's not a particularly formal dinner party, I suppose."

Although she had a terrible feeling that formal dinner parties were the only sort of dinner parties that took place here.

"Oh, Miss Swann already anticipated this particular problem. She'll send down a dress that you might borrow for the occasion in the coming days. From my own estimations, you're around the same size."

Theo's eyebrows raised of their own accord as she bit back the very sore temptation to ask 'in what areas' - while that would be light teasing back home, it would probably be some great and terrible insinuation regarding his honour here. The longer she went without her jokes landing her in a 'pistols at dawn' type situation, the better. Luckily, he seemed to realise the suggestion behind his words and he flushed, coughing.

"No, your height appears to be much the same - you're both on the tall side. I'm sure Hattie can make any alterations if need be, though."

"I look forward to meeting her," Theo said.

She wasn't lying, either. It would be interesting to meet the woman who infatuated James Norrington so - he was oddly adorable when he was flustered.

It was that conversation that had Theo standing in the mansion of Governer Swann not a full week later…and dearly wishing she'd never been foolish enough to look forward to this occasion in the first place. True to her word, Elizabeth had sent down a servant toting a boxed up dress of stunning emerald green silk brocade - and true to Norrington's word, it had fit Theo near-perfectly. Hattie styled her crimson hair into an elaborate updo that was very, well…big, but Theo took her word for it when she said it followed the latest fashion to the letter, and by the time she'd adorned herself in the finishing touches (a hairpin, also sent down by Elizabeth, along with the only piece of jewellery Theo had brought with her to this world, a simple silver heart-shaped pendant, a gift for her twenty-first from her family), she was almost beginning to feel like she may just be able to fit in around here.

The ladies milling about the governor's mansion when she and Norrington arrived were quick to disabuse her of that notion. Of course, they waited until Norrington excused himself to talk with Governor Swann before they really showed their fangs, making sure to speak just loudly enough for her to hear every word they said while she stood on her own, glass of wine in hand, at the side of the room.

"Is that her?"

"Who else?"

"I pictured her looking more…wild."

"Yes, well you can dress up a feral beast in silks all you like, but you can't stop it from biting and scratching. Just wait until you hear the accent on it."

"Do you think Captain Norrington would have bothered saving her had he heard her speak first?"

"Oh, I'm sure he regrets it now. I wonder if she's house trained."

"I wouldn't take the risk, myself."

Theo kept her eyes trained on the opposite wall of the parlour, counting to ten in her head for the fiftieth time that evening. She should have just aimed for a thousand in the first place and stopped kidding herself. They knew that she could hear them. She knew that they knew. Jesus, they knew that she knew that they knew. It took conscious, physical effort to keep her jaw from clenching tightly - to show no sign at all that she was bothered. And yet, she was more bothered than she would have liked.

Oh, she didn't care what they said - or what they thought. They were idiots. It was the frustration that she couldn't do anything. Couldn't say anything. She barely spoke the language here, she wasn't well versed in the game of back-handed compliments and verbal warfare. Had she been back home, she'd have already squared up to one of them. She'd choose the loudest one, the one who fancied herself the leader of the pathetic little group, to make a statement to the others, and she'd ask her to repeat the things she'd just said, but this time while they were nose-to-nose. If she was stupid enough to comply, she'd headbutt her. Or punch her. Maybe a kick. Whatever seemed like it would be the most fun in the moment.

But she could not do so here. Not without proving them right, and definitely not without disgracing Norrington, and she refused to repay his kindness and his patience in that manner. The only way she could possibly retaliate would be to engage in their own mode of warfare, and it was the one mode she was absolutely had no chance of winning at. That was what frustrated her. Well, along with the fact that she had the unfortunate habit of being an angry crier. If it came to a real, heated argument (which she doubted, to be fair), she knew her vision would fog with tears before she even rattled off her third insult. She would not cry in front of them, damnit. Or in front of anybody, for that matter.

"How do you think she repays the good captain for giving her room and board?"

"Oh, he would never."

"Of course not, he does everything by the letter, that one - but that doesn't mean she wouldn't try."

That was it. She was going to say something. She couldn't not say something. Taking a deep breath in, her hand tightened on her wine glass until she was sure it was going to break, she had barely begun to whirl around when a new voice joined the fray.

"Miss Byrne!"

All heads turned in the room in reaction to the exclamation - the greeting that came from the woman who could only be Elizabeth Swann. And god, was she beautiful. Theo was almost tempted to throw her hat in the ring against the Will and Norrington both. Wouldn't that have been a way to alter the story? But she wasn't sure she could compete with Will's hurt puppy look. Still, the call was enough to catch her off guard - she almost tripped over her feet in the u-turn she had to do, turning in the complete opposite direction of the women and their mutterings.

Sweeping towards her in a dress of powder blue, Elizabeth fixed her with a smile so warm Theo wondered if she mistook her for an old friend, taking both of her hands in hers once she was close enough.

"I knew who you were immediately," the governor's daughter said warmly "You're exactly how Captain Norrington described you to be - just as striking, especially in that colour. You must give me the name of your tailor, although I fear you're the only woman in Port Royal who can carry that particular shade of green."

The loudest of her critics - a shorter blonde woman dressed in a dress of the same colour - gave an indignant huff of annoyance. Theo slowly managed to blink away her surprise - enough to see the mischief shining in Elizabeth's deep brown eyes. Just as Norrington had guessed, they were about the same height.

"I- Of course, Miss Swann, it's lovely to meet you," Theo finally said, inclining her head.

"Come, come, I'll show you the gardens. We've much to talk about, you and I, a fresh face has been sorely needed around here for some time."

Still a little bewildered - and slightly adrenaline-buzzed from the fight she'd entirely expected to have had by now - she allowed Elizabeth to lead her through the drawing room, into the library, and towards the double-doors that led to the mansion house's lush gardens. Not that she had much choice in the matter. The moment they stepped out into the humid night air, though, Elizabeth deflated somewhat and gave a laugh, releasing her hold on her arm.

"I'm sorry about that - it was a bit much. But, well, that will show them, won't it? You looked like you needed some help."

Oh, Theo liked her.

"Thank you for stopping me from doing anything stupid, Miss Swann - and for the dress," she smiled, shaking her head "I'm sure a brawl isn't how you usually start dinner parties around here."

"No, I'm afraid not," Elizabeth admitted "But you must call me Elizabeth - I wasn't lying when I said I've been wishing to meet you."

Now that did surprise her. She'd always assumed this whole thing was something that had been pushed upon her by the governor - making Elizabeth do Norrington a favour, under the guise of doing Theo a favour, in some strange roundabout effort of pushing the two of them together. It was a relief to see that didn't seem to be the case. She was in the debt of enough people around here as it was.

"Then you must call me Theodora - or Theo. Either one. I've managed to make quite an impression so far, apparently," Theo smiled through her wince "I'm afraid everybody will be quite bored when they realise the reality of who I am."

Well, she hoped they'd be bored once they saw who she was pretending to be, at least.

"Oh, don't say that, I demand to hear every word of your adventure out there in the rainforest - as payment, for saving your life just then."

Theo laughed - not entirely of her own accord. She hadn't expected Elizabeth to be this…this warm. This funny. Oh, her feistiness was made clear in all three movies, that much was obvious, and there were hints of the rest but the full extent came as a bit of a surprise. It shouldn't have, though, she supposed. It made sense. The movies had never shown who she was in her day-to-day life, not really. There were glimpses, but the most they were really shown of her character was who she was under intense, high-pressure situations. Only one of the two of them viewed dinner parties as such, and it sure as hell wasn't Elizabeth.

Luckily, and unluckily, the time for dinner came barely a moment later. Luckily because it meant that Theo wouldn't have to try to find some justifiable explanation for her decision to stay in the woods that didn't run the risk of losing her the newest potential friend she had here, and unluckily because it meant going back inside to face the vipers once again. The dining room was decked out in candles and crystal, with elaborate floral centrepieces interspersed between the huge platters of rich food.

Norrington was seated at the other end of the table by the Governor, and Theo wasn't sure what struck her more - the flash of panic that panged deep within her chest when she realised they wouldn't be seated near one another, or her surprise at that panic in itself. She shook it off, though, determined not to let anybody see her sweat, and took comfort in the fact that she was seated at Elizabeth's side…along with how none of the other ladies had dared to so much as spare her a glance after Elizabeth's earlier display of camaraderie. And anyway, it turned out there was another person she somewhat knew present.

As the guests gathered behind their appointed chairs waiting for the governor to give the go-ahead for them to sit, Theo bumped into a familiar face - she was still adjusting to the skirts of the times, and the sheer circumference of them.

"Excuse me, miss-"

She blinked, already getting ready to apologise and hoping she hadn't just pissed off the other person she'd spend this entire dinner sitting beside, before she registered who was before her.

"Lieutenant Groves, it's nice to see you again."

It comforted her somewhat that he looked as taken aback as she did, frowning at her before visibly comprehending who she was.

"I- Miss Byrne?"

"The one and only," she offered a smile that was more relieved to have found a friendly face than anything else.

They were interrupted for a moment as the governor invited everybody present to sit, but the smile stayed on even as she caught the eye of Norrington when he glanced down the table as they all sat. He blinked, perhaps surprised to find her looking cheerful rather than consumed in thought for once, before he nodded and then looked away again. Only after Groves had helped her into her seat did he take his own.

"I hardly recognised you, Miss Theodora," he resumed their conversation as the drinks were being poured.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she replied.

"Oh, no, I only meant-" he quickly began to backtrack "You look well."

"I understand," she said "I thought about overdoing it with the rouge tonight - you know, so I'd resemble my old sunburnt self, but I was worried people would mistake it for a blush and just think me permanently embarrassed."

The joke earned her a strange look - for just long enough that she began to sorely regret the joke, but just as she was about to apologise and resolve not to speak at all for the rest of the night, he laughed. A real laugh, if not one tinged with a bit of shock, beholding her as if she was some sort of unusual but highly amusing alien. She had a feeling that the laugh came more from surprise than much else, but it still did wonders for her nerves, and she couldn't help but laugh along when faced with such a display of genuine mirth.

"Well, it's my firm belief that you've nothing to be embarrassed about, so it's just as well," Groves said.

Ah. So he'd heard the rumours, too, then. It wasn't a pleasant realisation - that everybody seated at the fine dining table in this mansion knew exactly what was being whispered about her, and why...But the fact that he'd tried to reassure her was still sweet.

"We're in agreement there...but thank you," she answered finally.

Two new allies in one night. She was doing surprisingly well for herself - and that wasn't the only win. Their cheer earned them a few thoroughly unamused looks from the ladies who she'd overheard gossiping about her, but Theo found that she didn't care. On the contrary, it made her feel just the tiniest bit smug. Although it did rather help that when Norrington caught her eye again, he smiled back at her this time. It was a slight smile - a wry one, with no hint of teeth, but no less sincere for the lack thereof. A stamp of approval, even in the slightest sense, from the prim and proper Captain Norrington was a rare thing indeed and she'd be damned if it didn't lift her spirits for the rest of the meal.

No, the people here weren't half bad at all. For the most part.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the lovely reviews! This is a hell of an intimidating fandom to write in, so they've been greatly encouraging. The dinner party continues in the next chapter - along with a bit more of Norrington's perspective.