Chapter 2 – Here It Goes Again

"Madison Rose Turner! We are going to be late for your brother's engagement party. Hurry up!" Elizabeth called, tucking her hair behind her ears and leaving her room. She still heard no movement from upstairs. Sighing, she entered her daughter's room to find her struggling with her corset.

"Mother, why do you insist that I wear this? I can't get it on, and once I do, I can't breathe." Madison complained. Elizabeth laced it easily, leaving Madison gasping for breath.

"Don't you dare complain. We hardly go to these sorts of affairs--" Madison snorted in disbelief. "And besides, this is your brother's engagement party. Her family dislikes us enough as it is, we don't need them thinking that his sister was never taught to put on a dress." Elizabeth continued as if she had not been interrupted.

"Why is William marrying her if she can't appreciate him?" Madison wondered. Elizabeth didn't answer, preferring to lace Madison's dress in silence.

"There." she said after a few moments. "you looks beautiful, darling."

"You do too." Madison replied with a smile. Elizabeth reached down and kissed her forehead.

"Now we're really going to be late."

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The two Turner women entered the party, surprisingly, perfectly on time. They quickly spotted William greeting guests, with his fiancé clinging to his arm. Jane Davenport was a tall, brunette beauty considered to be at the height of their society. So understandably, Madison had a very low tolerance level for her.

"William!" Elizabeth called, waving to her son. He and Jane headed over towards them. "You look very handsome tonight."

"Thank you mother."

"I picked it out for him" Jane said, smiling almost gratefully at Elizabeth.

"Las time I checked, my brother could dress himself without anyone's help and still look nice." Madison commented. William closed his eyes in obvious frustration.

"Oh, Madison…nice to see you." Jane greeted, the enthusiasm disappearing from her tone.

"Jane. William." she replied, hugging her brother tightly. He grinned at her.

"Is that dress killing you?" he whispered.

"Completely." An awkward silence floated over the group. "Oh, William! Did I tell you about the pirates who robbed Port Corsica a few weeks ago? Legend has it that they found loads of treasure there. Kat told me that they left a chest--"

"I don't want any talk about pirates at my party." Jane interrupted when caught onto the conversation.

"Why, do you have some kind of problem with my family? Are you traditional people too good for pirates?" Madison demanded, her eyes flashing with repressed rage that came to her in milliseconds.

"No, but I will not permit that kind of talk here." Jane replied firmly.

"You do know that you're marrying a pirate." Madison told her. "My father is the captain of the Flying Dutchman, and my mother is the king, or queen, of all pirates."

"Madison." William warned.

"Ah, how young girls have learned to lie." Jane scoffed.

"I am not lying! What right do you have to say such a thing?!"

"William is not a pirate." she defended.

"It's in his blood, Jane. You might want to get used to it."

"Excuse me, but there are more people to greet." Jane said suddenly, bouncing away from them.

"Madison, stop this immediately." William ordered, his tone very stern. "If Jane does not want talk about pirates, then there will be no talk of pirates."

"I can't believe you're defending her!" Madison nearly shouted in absolute disbelief. "William, she and her family don't appreciate our background. How can you even love her, let alone marry her?" Her anger was becoming so intense that she was near tears.

"I just can." he snapped. He walked away, going to join his fiancé on the other side of the room. Madison and her mother stood in silence for a moment.

"Madison, please. For you brother's sake, just stop." Elizabeth said gently.

"But I don't understand why he insists on marrying her. She's so--" She was reduced to mumbling into her mother's hand as it covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, but you'll just have to get over it. In a matter of weeks, she'll be your sister and that will be that." Elizabeth paused. "It's not our decision, it's William's. There's nothing we can do about it."

"I need a drink." Madison replied, heading over to the table filled with some sort of alcohol and food.

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Madison drank her second cup in a matter of seconds. "Ugh, this party is the most boring thing I've been to since the Christensen's engagement three years ago." she muttered.

"Good evening, Miss Turner." The greeting came from a tall, much too skinny, pale young man dressed in elegant clothing standing behind her. His presence immediately gave off the aroma of snobbishness and privilege that was already suffocating Maddy.

"And it just got worse." she added silently to herself. She took a deep breath before turning to face the man she considered the closest thing Port Royal had to a stalker.

"Good evening, Mr. Fitzgerald. She greeted.

"Congratulations on your brother's engagement." Johann Fitzgerald said stiffly.

"It was his decisions, I had nothing to do with it."

"But Jane will be a great addition to your…lonely family. So, therefore I congratulate you." He took her hand and kissed it lightly. Madison did not even try to hide her disgust. "I assume you will need a date for the ceremony."

"No, I was planning on going alone, actually." Johann smiled almost condescendingly.

"Why, Madison, surely you know that such a pretty girl cannot attend such a prestigious event alone."

"I think you'll find that I can." she snapped. "And it is Miss Turner." She wrenched her hand from his grip. "Good day, Mr. Fitzgerald." And she turned on her heels, leaving him breathless as she walked away.

"She so wants me." he told himself, smiling gleefully.

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"William!" Elizabeth followed her son over to his fiancé's side after watching Madison storm away in defiance. "William Jack!"

"What?" he snapped, turning his attention towards Elizabeth.

"First, do not talk to me like that." Her finger was about an inch from his nose. "And second, have I not taught you anything?" William's eyes questioned her. "I thought I taught you not to talk to your sister like that! You should know better."

"If Jane said there was to be no talk of pirates here, then there will be no talk of pirates, mother. Surely you can understand that…" he explained, standing his ground firmly.

"I understand." she answered, not quite convincing her son with her tone as he looked at her, crossing his arms across his stomach. "I do, believe me. But, you could've taken her aside and told her gently."

"Well I told her. That's all that matters." William looked back at Jane, who begged for him to join her in boredom as they greeted more guests, and then looked back at his mother. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have to go greet more complete strangers. Strangers that seem to like hugs." He lowered his head in what seemed like a bow of some sort, probably doing it to be polite even though it was his own mother, and walked over to Jane's side, his hand lacing in with hers.

"I swear," Elizabeth muttered quietly up, her head tilted back as if she was addressing the ceiling.

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Maddy, furious by Johann's presence, stormed out of the ballroom through the back doors, which also happened to be French. A soft breeze greeted her and she let the wind take her frustration from her.

"Mmm," She could smell the sea. The saltiness of the water being transferred through the dying wind reminded her of her father and she clutched the key on the necklace around her neck.

"It's my birthday, it's my birthday." Madison skipped through the kitchen singing, her mother smiling at her while her brother just shook his head as he ate his breakfast. "Hey William," She stood right beside him, bouncing up and down. "Guess what?"

"Umm, it's your birthday?!" he answered sarcastically.

"Man, you take the fun out of everything these days." she pouted, crossing her arms across her stomach. Elizabeth finished cutting an apple that she was going to take for herself and reached for a nicely wrapped box laying on the counter.

"Madison…" Her daughter turned around to take the box that was in her mother's outstretched hand.

"Mother, you said you weren't going to get me anything." Elizabeth shrugged and motioned for her to open it. So, Madison did what any child of any age would've done with a present…she devoured it, stopping at the piece of notebook paper.

"What is it?" William's big, curious nose butted in. Madison unfolded the paper that had her name on it in beautiful calligraphy, immediately recognizing the handwriting.

"It's from father."

"Father?" William perked up at his seat. "What does it say?"

"Let her get there, William." His mother ordered gently and William slouched back down in his chair. "Go ahead, Maddy. Read it…" But the girl was already reading it silently to herself, tears sitting on her eyelids as she nodded.

"My darling Madison,

Today, as I write this to you, I can only think about how much I've missed while away at sea. Your first words, your first step, your first dress, maybe even your first boyfriend. But, I hope that you can forgive me for that. It is your fifteenth birthday today, and I'm sure they've been a wonderful fifteen years and I'm hoping this present will mean as much to you as it does to me. The day you and I first met, your mother and I agreed that you would be the one to, sort of, inherit this possession because, well, your brother isn't really suitable to keep things for a long time. Anyway, this, Madison, what lays here in this box, is the key to my heart. Literally. I'm sure you've heard stories from your mother, maybe even Jack if he has stopped by, but this is your present…the key to the chest which holds my heart." Madison paused, gasping at the words in front of her.

"How come she gets the key? I'm older than her!" William couldn't believe it.

"Keep going, sweetie."her mother encouraged her, ignoring her son, pushing her along the lines of the paper. She nodded.

"This key comes with a lot of responsibilities, that I'm hoping you will follow. But, this key also comes with love…my love. I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there with you today, watching your face react to what's been written on this piece of paper, and I hope that you can understand why." Madison swallowed a big lump of tears that were sitting in her throat. "I love you so much, Maddy. Please remember that.

Love you,

Father."

"I can't believe he left the key to you! Of all people!" William burst through the kitchen and stomped upstairs to his room, muttering under his breath.

"Wow…" That was all Madison could muster up. Elizabeth, wiping away her own tears, pulled her daughter into a giant hug.

"See, I told you your father wasn't all bad…" The girls laughed.

"Yo ho, all together," she sang softly, "hoist the colors high. Heave ho, thieves and beggars. Never shall we die." Another, stronger breeze came her way and she swore she heard someone whisper something to her.

"Now what is a pretty girl like you doing out here all by yourself?" A low voice crept up behind her and at first Madison thought that Johann had followed her outside, but smiled when she saw her grandfather standing there.

"Grandfather!" She moved forward and hugged him tightly. "What are you doing here?" She paused as they pulled away. "Not that I don't like seeing you." He laughed lightly as she smiled.

"You father sent me."

"Daddy?" Madison gasped, clutching the key again.

"Yep." he nodded. "He heard that song you were singing."

"He heard that?" Madison couldn't believe it. If her father could hear the song, then he could probably hear a lot more than just the song…wonderful, she thought.

"Always." Bootstrap could see Madison's smile grow wider and her eyes twinkled with happiness. "He can always hear that song, especially from his own family."

"I miss him." She changed the mode drastically. "I miss him a lot." Bootstrap smiled back at her and then looked at the huge party going on inside distastefully.

"What's going on in there?"

"My brother just got engaged." Madison replied bitterly.

"You don't sound too happy about that."

"She's horrible. She's stuck up, and rude, and traditional. Which means she despises pirates and everything that had to do with them."

"Which explains why you're sulking out here instead of mingling in there?" he asked gently.

"That, and other annoying people. Like Johann Fitzgerald." Madison explained. When her grandfather just looked confused, she added. "His father took over Beckett's job. The whole family is horrible, and somehow he is obsessed with getting me to marry him." She paused. "Can I just leave with you?" Bootstrap laughed hoarsely.

"You don't want to crew aboard the Flying Dutchman, lass."

"It has to be better than here." she sighed. "Please?"

"Madison?" Elizabeth called. She walked out onto the wooden deck, looking around suspiciously. "Who were you talking to?"

"To-" Madison started, turning back around to where Bootstrap was. "No one." she continued, confused. Elizabeth was not convinced.

"Alright then, come back inside. People are starting to wonder where you are."

"They could just look out the window." she suggested sarcastically, hanging her feet over the dock as she sat down, a direct defiance of her mother's orders.

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Will was pacing back and forth in front of the desk in the northern corner of his quarter again, waiting for his father's return. He knew that if his heart was in him, it would've been pounding nervously.

"Ughh," His father finally appeared, shaking off the journey. "I hate traveling like that?"

"How is she? Is everything okay? What'd she say?" Will bombarded Bill, jumping inches away from him.

"Hold on, son. I'm getting there." Bill answered, walking towards the chair that belonged to the desk and say down, his feet propping themselves on top of Will's papers, printing their footprints/shoeprints, on the words.

"Could you hurry up?"

"She's fine. Madison just needed to calm herself down."

"And she sings that song?" Will snorted a laugh that rid him of his nerves. "Why is my daughter singing that song?"

"Well, I'm just guessing here," Bootstrap replied with a sarcastic tone that also had a hint of a playful mock. "Maybe, just maybe, she sings it because it reminds her of you." Will sighed as his "failure" as a father was once again the conversation. "She told me to tell you that she missed you terribly."

"Yeah, I miss them too." His famous mood was back again as he slumped against the barnacle covered wall.

"You know, she's a beautiful little girl. She-" Bill began.

"Dad, she's not a little girl anymore." Will interrupted, grinning. "She's 15, she's a beautiful young woman."

"Right. I never had a girl, so excuse my mistake." Will nodded as his acceptance of his fathers half apology. "She looks a lot like Elizabeth."

"I know. I could see the resemblance when I saw her the last time."

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"Well, I guess we should probably get going." Elizabeth said as though to herself, but she stood in front of her children. They were fully aware that she was addressing everyone.

"Thank you for coming." Jane replied, leaning in for a hug from Elizabeth, who returned it by clutching the small body in her arms. Madison, on the other hand, refrained, even though Jane had decided she was going to give her one anyway.

"It was a lovely party, right Madison?" Elizabeth nudged her daughter beside her, startling her.

"Yeah," She smiled. "Whatever."

"I'm sure you'll be happy to get out of that dress." William whispered in his sister's ear as they pulled away from their hug.

"Definitely." she answered, grinning. The two Turner women waved as they walked out of the hall, both exhausted from the party as they both sighed.

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"Mother, you think that when I get out of this dress, we could maybe eat some ice cream or something?" Madison and Elizabeth were in the carriage now, close to their house, both of the slumping against the seats as Elizabeth nodded.

"Yeah." she answered, kind of surprised. "Is there any particular reason?"

"No." Madison shook her head just as the carriage stopped in front of their small little cottage. "I just want ice cream."

"Ok, sweetie. After w-" Elizabeth halted at the front door, which was ajar. Her heart started pounding and unless this was some kind of thing that Will had organized to be funny, something was not right. "Madison stay here."

"Mom, don't go in there. There might be someone in there that wants to kill you."

"It'll be okay." Elizabeth nodded, starting to walk into the house. It was a complete mess and immediately she ran up to her room to find the chest, to make sure that it was still there. Her room was turned upside down and she continued to turn it that way.

"'ello, poppet."