A/N: Had to upload this twice because the site didn't send an email notification the first time - sorry for any inconvenience! I wrote this chapter hungover, such is my commitment to method writing. Now I just need to work out the whole time travel thing. Can't say I'd survive as long as Theo has, though. Anyway, here is the proper reunion! I wanted to include this in the last chapter but it just got too long and ridiculous so a near-double update was the next best option.

Even once they boarded The Dauntless, Theo was not treated with even a slither of suspicion. Paranoia masked as self-preservation urged her to keep her guard up - these were experienced soldiers, if they suspected her of something they wouldn't let her know until they'd given her the rope to hang herself with. But these were also soldiers whom she knew. Groves, James, they were behaving fairly normally with her, if not through a thick layer of confusion. James in particular took loyalty seriously. If he suspected her of any sort of shady misdeeds, he wouldn't have even spoken to her on the beach.

Still, this confidence had to fight through a fog of nausea and worry to take root, and she found herself standing on the deck of The Dauntless with her head down, looking like much more of a prisoner than Jack did. Probably appearing guilty as sin, too, but she couldn't bring herself to act differently. Not with the very familiar sequence of events taking place before her very eyes.

Jack and Elizabeth both furiously tried to nudge James towards saving Will with varying levels of effectiveness, but Theo remained silent, leaning against the rail as her nausea and unease grew in equal measure. Groves remained at her side, probably suspecting she might keel over and go plummeting overboard at any minute, if the way he shifted whenever she so much as fidgeted was anything to go by.

"Miss Theodora, I think we should find you somewhere to sit," Groves said.

She shook her head - too scared to speak lest she vomit. Her face was going a dangerous shade of grey, she knew so because her hands were fast going the same colour, almost blindingly white in the sun until she tucked them behind herself, leaning on the wooden rail of the ship. Why wasn't she agreeing with him? Why didn't she nod and allow him to lead her somewhere quiet so she wouldn't have to pay witness to what was about to happen? It was masochistic, staying as she was. And yet she couldn't help herself.

Elizabeth followed James to the stairs that led to the quarterdeck, calling after him desperately.

"Commodore, I beg you, please do this - for me. As a wedding gift."

There it was. Inhaling slowly, her grip on the rail behind her tightened until her knuckles and fingertips turned an even more brilliant shade of white than the rest of her hands.

"Elizabeth?" Governor Swann asked "Are you…accepting the Commodore's proposal?"

If Theodora hadn't been certain of her own intent to make herself suffer, she would have been after what she did next, finally looking up and forcing herself to look in the direction of James. She didn't know what she expected to see. That her presence would make a difference to the depth of his feelings for Elizabeth? It hadn't changed his decision to propose so why should it change anything else? Why should she even dream it might? After what? A bit of vague flirting and a drunken kiss? She wasn't that naïve.

But still, it hurt when she saw it. The look of utter astonishment on his face, like he'd just been handed everything he ever dreamed of but didn't dare believe that it was real. Theo shuddered on her exhale, slowly losing her grip on her self control. And yet, she kept watching.

"I am," Elizabeth said.

"A wedding, I love weddings! Drinks all around!" Jack exclaimed with his usual cheer.

For the first time, she found it just as annoying as everybody else always seemed to. Finally, she looked away, but not before she saw James' look of disbelief morph into one of sheer pride. Were he more of a free-wheeling type, he'd be all out beaming. When she did look away, she turned her gaze to Groves who remained by her side. She was caught off-guard to find that rather than watching the spectacle unfold, his eyes were fixed on her. And they were filled with sympathy. That was all it took to have her stomach truly revolting against her.

"Theodora," he sighed quietly, but before he could continue she was interrupting.

"I'm going to be sick," she shook her head, ducking past him to run further down the ship so she might empty the contents of her stomach away from the watchful gaze of the happy couple.

The rum tasted even worse the second time round, and she was heaving until there was nothing left in her system to come back up. Even then, she remained leaning over the edge, stubbornly waiting for the tears that stung her eyes to pass. It happened to anybody who threw up, she reasoned, that was the cause of them and nothing more. When she finally straightened, she allowed Groves to lead her to the captain's quarters, which she understood she was to share with Elizabeth for the voyage 'home'.

"Are you all right?" Groves asked as they stepped in.

Propriety demanded that the door remain open, but they were deep enough in the lavish quarters to not worry about being overheard.

"I overindulged last night, that's all."

"That wasn't what I was referring to."

"Sparrow didn't hurt me," she tried a different tact.

"Theodora," he sighed "I…I know that must have been difficult for you. Out there."

And so it seemed there was no more playing dumb. Not if she didn't want to risk alienating even more of her friends. Shrugging slightly, she wiped the cold sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her stolen shirt.

"He proposed a match between you and I once, you know. Can you believe it?"

It was something she regretted saying the moment she'd said it, but he was already responding with a quiet chuckle from where he stood, hands clasped behind his back.

"I could think of worse matches," he admitted "We get along well, we actually like one another. I certainly doubt a life with you would be boring. It's more than many couples can say."

"Lieutenant, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" she moved to apologise, but he held a hand up and continued.

"However," he said evenly "While I flatter myself in thinking that pride is not my greatest sin, I shouldn't think I would much enjoy being betrothed to a woman who is in love with my commanding officer."

Theo stared at him.

"Nor to one with whom the sentiment is so clearly reciprocated, I think," he added.

"You're not funny."

"Ah, see, so you wouldn't be content with me, either," he replied lightly.

Theo gave him an unamused look. She'd never been a fan of empty placations - especially not of that sort, even when not relate to matters of the heart. Being turned down for a job and having family say "but you were the best person for it!" despite the fact that the application process had clearly proven otherwise. Oh, she wouldn't be a bitch about it in those cases, they meant well and were just trying to cheer her up, but she found Groves' words truly absurd. What did he think James was doing? Playing especially hard to get?

"Thank you," she said finally after taking a moment to collect herself "For being a good friend - and for not hating me after how I tricked you back ho- back in Port Royal. I hope I didn't get you into any trouble."

"Had you been anybody else, you might have," he admitted "...I think, though, the Commodore knows that you would have found a way to slip away from anybody once you got it in your mind. Although I'm not sure that leniency would have been extended had we not found you in the end."

"Well," she said weakly "Here I am."

The smile he offered was laced with sympathy "Here you are. No doubt the Commodore will wish to speak with you properly soon…and once he does, I would like an explanation myself. But you'll have a moment to rest before then. I'll leave you be."

She was very glad for that, because her composure wouldn't last much longer. Offering a strained smile, she trailed after him so that she might close the great glass-panelled wooden doors behind him…and got a glimpse of the newly betrothed couple, arm in arm, taking a turn about the deck. Closing the door quickly behind Groves, she turned and strode deeper into the room once again, wrapping her arms around herself.

God, but it hurt. It shouldn't have - she knew it was on the way. She knew that it wouldn't happen. But still, it did. A hollow ache deep within her chest that threatened to wind her more and more with each passing second, made all the worse by her anger at herself for feeling it in the first place. Half-hearted thoughts of her usual tactics when these thoughts - these feelings - surfaced came to mind. To distract herself quickly with literally anything else (usually preparations for what was still to come, which was a special type of hell all of its own), or even to just deny the existence of her feelings altogether. But now? Now they demanded to be felt.

Stumbling for the windows, she didn't stop until she was practically leaning out of them so that nobody could see her face, and then her tears began in earnest. The first sob snuck out and he closed her eyes, clenching her jaw as she gripped the window frame and took a deep shuddering breath in. But then there was another, and another, and finally she gave in and just let it happen.

James still couldn't quite believe that it had happened. Oh, he had hoped that Elizabeth might accept his proposal, but he'd never quite dared to plan for it. He had never been one for counting his chickens before they hatched, and while he also was not one for superstition, it did seem to tempt fate rather to start making set-in-stone plans for such an eventuality. Still, as they walked arm in arm around the deck of the dauntless, it didn't feel real. Like he was walking on air. Despite that, though, he couldn't help but feel that his concerns needed addressing, too.

"I'm…concerned that your answer was perhaps…" he took a moment to find the words so that they did not sound like an insult, nor an accusation "…less than sincere."

He watched her closely for any hint of a reaction. Hesitating for a moment, she finally replied.

"I would not give my word lightly."

"Yes, I understand," he replied "But is it so wrong that I should want it given unconditionally?"

It was difficult for him to ask the question, but it had to be asked.

"It is not a condition, it is a request," Elizabeth countered "Your answer would not change mine."

He looked at her, a slight frown on his face.

"You are a fine man, James," she added, offering a smile.

He could not help but return it "Well. Very well…Excellent."

Over Elizabeth's shoulder, he watched as Groves escorted Theodora to James' own quarters, where she and Elizabeth would be housed for the remainder of their journey. The Irishwoman was stark white - paler even than usual - and her hands trembled where she held them against her middle as she walked. He frowned in concern. He would need to speak with her properly soon.

But Elizabeth still stood by his side, only the slightest amount of fidgeting betraying the fact that she felt the awkwardness, too. In truth, it was something that surprised him - something that he'd, perhaps naively, expected to disappear once the matter of his proposal was settled. But maybe that was his own impatience showing. After all, she'd been through quite an ordeal. Still, there seemed to be none of the ease that she shared with the blacksmith, nor the sort that he…that he himself shared with Theodora. That was a thought that gave him an uncomfortable amount of pause, something in his chest sinking.

"I did not have a chance to ask properly when we were ashore - but are you well? You weren't injured? Harmed?" He noted the bandage wrapped around her hand with unease.

"Oh - no. Nothing serious. I was lucky," she nodded slowly, her answer coming haltingly.

"Good. Excellent. I'm glad," he nodded.

And then, once again, he was trying to think of something else to say, but that was a task that sounded easier than it truly was. Should it be this difficult? For the life of him, he couldn't tell whether the voice inside him that insisted it should absolutely not be so was panic and pessimism fuelled by exhaustion, or genuine instinct.

For every awkward silence, every stilted response, every ounce of discomfort, he was greeted with countless memories of the ease between himself and the woman whom he housed. Even situations that should have been awkward with her often ended up being amusing, or at least easy. Silence, when it emerged, was incidental. Comfortable. Not…not suffocating like this was threatened to be. And those memories - those comparisons - threatened to dampen his cheer before he'd really enjoyed it.

The door to the quarters clicked open and Theo tensed, waiting for James to begin demanding answers that she was in no state to give. But then she heard a soft sigh - a distinctly feminine sigh - and her shoulders slackened again.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

Theo kept her back to her, furiously wiping at her face with the sleeve of her shirt as she tried to break a world record for fastest pulling oneself together. The nausea was gone now that she'd thrown up, but that was just about the only way in which she felt better. Were it not for the battle she knew full well was on the way, she'd have been scouring the quarters for some hair of the dog.

"You know Commodore Norrington, he's a good man," Elizabeth continued to reason quietly "And if it'll save Will…it seems a small price to pay. Was it…have you seen anything on the matter? Was it what's supposed to happen?"

"Yeah-" her voice came out sounding scratchy and hoarse, so she quickly cleared her throat and continued "Yes. It was."

The deafening silence that followed her words told her that she wouldn't be winning any awards for her performance. But Elizabeth had other things to focus on, so she hoped that she might not have noticed properly - or that she'd shrug it off.

"…Theo?"

It seemed she wasn't that lucky.

"Mhm?"

"Theo, look at me," Elizabeth insisted, footsteps padding up towards her from behind.

"Why?"

"Theodora," her tone was one that allowed little argument.

Sighing heavily, she finally shuffled a half a step back from the window and turned her face only incrementally towards Elizabeth, even if she had to keep her eyes downcast to do it so she wouldn't have to see her reaction.

"What's wrong?"

The very real and genuine concern in her voice only made everything worse, because it made it all the more difficult to resent her - something Theo wasn't much capable of beforehand anyway. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes and she shook her head quickly, already raring to return to her old tactic of sticking her head out of the window and pretending the rest of the ship simply did not exist.

"Theo, tell me - please. I don't understand, I…" she trailed off as she squeezed her forearm, and then she quickly let go again "Oh."

Theo said nothing - mostly because she dreaded to think what conclusion Elizabeth might've come to.

"Oh, Theo. I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

She didn't justify entertain her playing dumb "I didn't know. Maybe I should have, but I…I didn't. There were rumours back home, but I thought it mere gossip - I thought perhaps you and Groves…If I had known, I'd have…"

And then she trailed off again, likely realising that what she'd been about to say would probably be a lie.

Offering a sad smile, Theo shook her head "You'd have done the exact same thing and I still couldn't have resented you for it. I'm fine. I'm being daft. Don't worry."

She meant it, too. While some small and petty part of her did want to hold it against Elizabeth, it was just that - small and petty. In a parallel universe, Theo knew full well that she'd have done the very same thing Elizabeth had just done. If James' life was on the line and her only way to save him was to promise herself to Will, she'd have done it in a heartbeat. It was just so very difficult to be reasonable when her mind kept replaying the look on James' face when Elizabeth accepted his proposal.

"Do you hate me very much?"

"I don't hate you at all. It's not your fault he has feelings for you and not me. Nor his, even. I'm being stupid," she sniffled "I'll be fine in a bit. Don't worry - we have bigger issues at hand."

If she hated anything, she hated the situation. The entire situation, including the day she'd decided to go hiking rather than sitting in bed and watching a movie instead. But there was nothing that could be done about that other than putting on her big girl pants and getting on with it. After a bit of a cry. But her words didn't seem to abate Elizabeth's worry, and she remained at her side with a painfully sad frown on her brow. Before the silence threatened to become awkward, though, there came a series of sharp knocks at the door. The glass panelling in the doors wasn't entirely clear, but it didn't have to be for her to recognise James' distinctive figure through the glass.

Elizabeth's frown turned from sad to worried, but Theo cursed, then she cleared her throat and furiously tried to make herself look like she hadn't just been sobbing pathetically. At least, she reasoned, he already knew she was unwell. Suddenly emptying the contents of her stomach over the rail of The Dauntless for all to see didn't seem like such a bad thing.

"Come in," she called when it seemed that Elizabeth would not.

She couldn't afford to shy away now, it would only make everything worse. So she forced herself to keep her chin up and look at him as he entered. Stepping into the room, his eyes went to Elizabeth, and then to Theo, where his brow immediately furrowed - and then a pause followed before he appeared to remember why he'd come in the first place, attention slowly going back to Elizabeth.

"Miss Swa- er Elizabeth," he seemed a little unsure of his own correction, and then he sighed and shifted awkwardly "Your father would like to speak with you. He's on the quarterdeck by the helm."

"Ah. All right, thank you," Elizabeth was visibly relieved to have an excuse to leave, and for that Theo couldn't blame her.

She slipped from the room, and then there were two.

"Last we spoke, you were at home under the care of my best Lieutenant," James said quietly "And then I come to find that you slip out from under his nose and lie to my men on multiple occasions so that you might gallivant across the Caribbean with one of the world's most notorious pirates."

Well. That was about the long and short of it, wasn't it? Biting at the side of her lower lip that wasn't busted, Theo said nothing.

"Since then, I've had word from a contact in Tortuga that you were spotted there shortly thereafter, involved in a tavern brawl during which you divested a man of his belongings - including a shortsword. Would you care to explain?"

"Didn't seem smart to be unarmed."

"This is not funny, Theodora," it was perhaps the angriest she'd ever seen him - or at least the first time she'd had that anger directed at her - his voice growing dangerously close to becoming a shout.

"I'm not joking."

"Have you any idea of the danger you put yourself in?" He demanded.

Theo snorted without fully meaning to, thumb tracing the bite wound on her hand. Yeah, she had some idea.

"How did that happen?" He noticed the action immediately.

It was the first question that didn't sound like an accusation (even if the accusations were justified from his perspective), and so she answered it properly.

"One of Barbossa's crew got it in his head that he'd like it if I was aboard The Interceptor when they blew it up. I wasn't so fond of the idea. We had an…unhealthy disagreement on the matter."

She gestured to her hand and her neck to emphasise her point. If he hadn't looked impressed before, he was really unhappy now.

"I would add that I won," she finished.

He didn't laugh. It wasn't his anger, though, that had her wavering in the end, but his hurt. Standing there, rooted to the spot, his frown spoke of anger but his eyes betrayed the upset - like she'd just spat in his face, called him an arsehole, and laughed about it for good measure. And then she knew there was no more evading it.

"I had to get out, James. After what happened, I needed to get out and be alone for a bit. But then…then I ran into Will, and I learned of the plan to rescue Elizabeth and it all…it all just seemed like a good idea at the time."

"And do you still stand by that assessment?"

"I can see where it had its flaws, but it worked. We got her back. Congratulations, by the way."

Nobody was more surprised than herself by the fact that she successfully managed to keep her tone devoid of bitterness when she offered her best wishes. She hadn't even said it out of spite - not mentioning it felt more suspect than doing so, if she was meant to be his friend. Which she hoped she still was. It was difficult to say, based on the look he was giving her. Like she'd just given him terrible, troubling news rather than commented on his supposedly getting the woman of his dreams. She felt all the shittier for the fact that it wasn't going to happen. What was worse, hoping he might marry a woman who did not return the depth of his feelings, or hoping that it wouldn't work out? He deserved better. Better than this, better than her and her petty jealousies.

He looked exhausted, too, which didn't help. With everything that had happened to her over the last few days, it was almost too easy to forget that he'd been going through his own brand of hell.

Finally, he spoke without acknowledging her congratulations.

"Why were you crying?"

"What?" The question was unexpected, hauling her out of her own angst.

"When I came in. You were weeping. Why?"

"I'm a woman. It's what we do, isn't it?"

His nostrils flared.

"Is it because of Sparrow?"

"What? What does Jack have to do with this?"

She noticed her use of his name too late. Far too late.

"Do you find his being locked in the brig unsatisfactory?"

"I expect it's for his own good as much as anybody else's."

Mainly because the man could give paracetamol a headache - and it hadn't even been invented yet. She didn't think. This time's version of medicine tended to be strictly in the territory of opioids and alcohol. Both sounded very good right about now,

"You seemed very at ease around one another back there."

"Oh, Christ."

"Watch your language," he snapped.

He was being petulant - unbelievably petulant - but she couldn't get over the gall of the root of his problems.

"I'll show you language in a minute if you continue down this path."

"I am not the one whose actions are in question here!"

"No, you're the one accusing me of shagging a pirate I've known all of a week."

His face flushed crimson at her words, finally snapping them out of this inane back and forth bickering that they'd so seamlessly slipped into.

"I didn't - that is not what I was…Oh, really, Theodora," he shook his head furiously.

Under different circumstances, she might've found it adorable. Okay, she still found it slightly cute now, too. But only slightly. At least the way in which he flustered forced them to pause, and she used it as a chance to breathe.

"There is nothing between Jack Sparrow and I. Believe it, don't believe it, but I'm telling you the truth."

He nodded slowly, but he continued to frown, not quite looking at her. It was clear that there was something else he wished to say, but was debating on whether it would be a good idea to say it or not. When he finally met her eye again, he apparently resolved to ask it anyway.

"And Groves?"

The look on her face in response to that had regret flashing across his face. She could forgive the enquiry concerning Jack - especially considering Jack's particular reputation when it came to women. But this? This was absolutely taking the piss.

"Forget that I-" he began, but she interrupted.

"Are you joking? Are you actually having a laugh right now?"

"I only ask because you are under my protection, and-"

It was bluster - and it was bullshit.

"And Groves - who is, and never will be anything more than, a friend - poses some great danger, does he?"

"I should not have asked."

"No, you shouldn't have," she agreed before sighing and continuing on only with great difficulty "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, James. I'm sorry if what I've done has come across as disrespect, or ingratitude, or…or anything negative towards you. It's the last thing that I would want, and the exact thing that has haunted me ever since I made this decision. I dreaded being reunited with you only to find that you hated me."

He looked at her for a long moment, appearing more taken aback by her words than embarrassed or disgusted by them as she'd feared.

"I don't," he admitted finally, voice quieter and softer than it had been throughout this entire conversation "I don't think I could if I wished to - which I do not."

She could almost hear a 'no matter how much I should' tagged onto the end there, but she was too relieved to be bothered by it.

"I missed you," she sighed with a sniffle, shaking her head.

The look on his face then caught her entirely off-guard - soft, and almost sad. Longing? But it couldn't be. And so she spoke again, just to try and backtrack.

"I stole your clothes," she added, plucking at the shirt.

The laugh he gave was quiet, tired, and just as forlorn as his expression had been.

A/N: James still has questions about Theo's actions, she won't be getting off that easy. But more on that later. So there is a deleted scene from the first movie that I pulled from heavily for when Elizabeth and James take a turn about the deck to celebrate their betrothal. It's on YouTube, I hadn't seen it until this year but the moment I did, I knew I had to use it in this story, it just fit too well. And James is so cute in it that it just about broke my heart.