Unbreakable

Elizabeth moved slowly as she walked back to the cargo hold. Ever since her conversation with her father, she was not quite herself. Her thoughts were a long ways away, and she was less responsive to the world. Her maid Estrella had had seemed quite shook up by the absolute quiet as she fitted her into her corset. Never had Elizabeth been so quiet before. Never had she not cried in pain as the tight laces squeezed her beyond reason. But she had not made a sound the whole time.

Elizabeth was quickly brought back to the real world when she crashed into someone passing by who obviously was as out of it as she was. Today that particular someone was James Norrington, a young man who had been given the duty to watch over Elizabeth and her father once they arrived in Port Royal. His eyes widened with surprise as they collided.

"Miss Swann!" he exclaimed. "Forgive me, I did not see you."

"Nor I you," she said, a bit flustered. "I admit that my mind was far away."

He smiled slightly. "As was mine. Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"Once again, please forgive me Miss Swann."

"You need not ask, sir." She said it as sincerely as possible, for she had been practicing. Another way to fool the nobles with her proper mask. "You are forgiven."

He looked relieved. "Thank you." After a moment's pause, he said, "Well Miss, I must be on my way. Good day." He bowed slightly before resuming his walk to the opposite end of the ship.

"Good day," she called to his decreasing figure before continuing her walk towards the cargo hold. Her mind slipped back into its wandering state at the realization that James had addressed her as Miss Swann. She had never really noticed what people called her, but now as she thought about it, she could only think of one person who addressed her by her Christian name; her father. Everyone else called her that lifeless, stiff, dignified label that she had been branded with. Everyone.

But Will. She suddenly remembered him and sighed in relief. Thank God she had him. He called her Elizabeth, he understood, he let her be herself. But then again, there had been those few brief moments over the past few days where he seemed hesitant. She could not possibly imagine why, but there must be a reason.

Of course. It suddenly hit her and she wished more than anything that it never had. Status. She was of much higher status, not by choice of course, but by blood. And it was really starting to get on her nerves. She wondered, just for a moment, what it would be like to live the life of a commoner. If she had been raised as one of them, surely she would not be spoiled with all the countless luxuries she received on a daily basis…but she would be free. And as she thought about it now, she decided that freedom was indeed what she wanted the most in the world, just as her father had feared.

Will looked up as he heard footsteps descending the stairs. He grinned when he saw it was Elizabeth, though he could not have imagined who else it could have been.

"Hello Elizabeth," he said to her.

"Hello Will," she said distractedly. Her mind was still up in her room, up on deck, where she had truly seen what lay ahead in her societal life.

He seemed to have noticed her far off gaze, because he looked concerned. "Elizabeth, is everything alright?"

"Yes," she said slowly, almost serenely. This wasn't entirely true, but she was not really thinking about the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Will looked slightly hurt for a minute, because it was obvious from her gaze that there was something wrong. And she was so quiet; she'd been quite energetic when he'd seen her forty of so minutes ago. Something must have happened, for she had been gone longer than she had promised. "You can trust me," he said quietly.

She looked over at him, but she wasn't really seeing him. "What?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. She was acting very curiously. "Elizabeth, are you ill?"

"No," she responded in her distant voice.

"Well then what is it?" He was genuinely concerned now.

She didn't respond.

"Elizabeth!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her lightly. "Forgive me, but what happened, Miss Swann?"

"Will," she responded, actually staring at him. Miss Swann, she thought sadly. Miss Swann. That had brought her back to reality. "I am sorry, my mind is not with me this morning I am afraid."

"But it was earlier," she said, releasing her.

"Yes…well," she said slowly. "That was earlier."

"Did something happen in the time you were gone?"

She shrugged. "Nothing…bad."

"But something still?" he asked. He knew he shouldn't pry, but he wanted to know what was wrong.

She shrugged again. Yes, her conversation with her father was indeed something. And yes, her run-in with Lieutenant Norrington was as well, but she did not want to trouble Will with them. Realizing her place and all. That was her burden to bear. And she also feared that if she told him, he might take it the wrong way. And that would be bad.

"Elizabeth?"

She perked up a bit when he called her that. "Hmm?"

"Can I get a yes or no out of you?"

She sighed. "Yes; I am fine."

He looked a little put-out for a minute, and she honestly couldn't blame him. But then her looked up at her and smiled. "Alright."

She smiled back, but still felt guilty.

Will seemed to notice, but he didn't say anything.

After a minute, she asked, "Shall we go have breakfast?"

He nodded and cautiously took her hand, afraid for some reason that she may pull it away. She didn't. In fact she gripped his tighter, afraid to let go. She had realized something on her walk back to him, and she knew that if she didn't hold onto him, she might lose Will forever. And she had promised never to let her best friend, her only friend, go.

(A/N:) I think this is officially the last chapter for a while. I'm taking a break off this stoy to focus on my other newer on. Perhaps in a month or so, I'll get back to this one. I was starting to run out of ideas...well, I still have a few...but this story wasn't getting many reviews so I think it's lost its charm. Oh well...they can't all be winners. ;) But if you have the time or patience, please check out my new story, The Life I Lived Before. It takes place after AWE and follows Elizabeth's life throughout the ten years. Thanks!

-Elizabeth (SouthamptonRose)