Author's Note: This chapter is set three years after chapter two, and is the movie CotBP shown from Rachel's (very limited) point of view.
I know in the summary I said there were no pairings, but that's not entirely true. There is a Will/Elizabeth pairing, but it has almost nothing to do with the actual story. The OC does not have a pairing, however.
Jla2snoopy, thanks for reviewing! I'll try to update as often as possible.
Chapter Three
The next three years seemed like an endless, terrible dream. I had lost everything, but I was determined not to lose my freedom. I was determined never to enter into domestic servitude; it was, in my mind, my worst possible fate, and I worked tirelessly to prevent its becoming a reality. I slaved for anyone who would pay me, only leaving when I had found something that would pay more, however small an increase. I wore the same clothes day after day, ate the same bread.
The only thing that had not changed was my love for the water. When I was allowed a few minutes to myself, I sat on the docks alone, just as I had sat with Elizabeth when I was younger, and watched the ships coming and going. Watched their sails float in the wind; watched the sun dance on the clear blue water. And no matter how hard I tried to repress it, always I found myself possessed of the desire to sail. I chastised myself...I could never go to sea...to dream of it was to invite disappointment.
I had seen Elizabeth only twice since the attack. The first time was the very day afterward; she stood very close to her father, shocked and, I imagine, disillusioned. I understood what must have been going through her mind at that moment, she who as a child had been fascinated by the stories of pirates. The reality was very different from the innocent, childhood fantasy. I, in my grief, did not feel pity for her then, only anger and bitter sarcasm.
The second time was a year later. We met on the street while she was accompanying a servant to the baker's; she had always enjoyed the little expeditions, and I imagined it was likely no different now. She smiled at me, with the pity I had come to expect from my old acquaintances, and I smiled in return. I didn't expect what came next. Elizabeth offered me the money her father had given her for the bread, saying I needed it more. My world, or what was left of it, came crashing down around me. She had been my friend! And now she considered me an object of charity? I politely declined, fighting tears, and from that point I avoided her. Absorbed in self-pity, I wasn't able to see her kindness.
I had also seen Will Turner; he had given me errands to do and paid me well for them, despite the fact that he was poor himself. He expressed interest in resuming my lessons in swordsmanship, but I couldn't accept the offer. I was still bitter; I considered his generosity another attempt at charity, and soon I avoided that area of town as well.
Music, aside from the sea, was my only solace. At night, when I couldn't sleep, and it was too dark to sit on the docks, I crept behind the little opera-house and let the sounds coming from within soothe my tired soul. When the opera-house was not open, the little bar, the only bar in Port Royal, sufficed. The music of the fiddlers was gay and carefree, and it symbolised for me the freedom of the ocean. When I listened to music, deep inside me I found courage to go on - and the knowledge, however silly I thought it, that someday soon I would find a way to escape Port Royal and its memories; to be what I wanted to be.
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Why do pirates always attack near midnight? I was sleeping in my tiny room, subconsciously dreading tomorrow, when I was awakened by the sound of guns and men yelling. A major sense of deja vu swept over me and I decided I was having a nightmare. I lay still, with a sarcastic expression on my face, waiting to awaken.
Pounding on my door soon brought me to reality. I stood up and opened it to the horrified face of one of my fellow tenants.
"Pirates, Miss Hunter," he exclaimed breathlessly. "Pirates attacking Port Royal!"
At first I had decided that I wasn't afraid; after all, what could happen? I could die. That didn't seem so bad at the moment.
But his frantic mannerisms, and his insistence that I hide with him in the cellar, were beginning to wear at my facade. Soon I was thoroughly frightened.
"All right, I'm coming! Just a moment!" I gathered my few belongings together and hurried to the cellar to wait it out.
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When morning came I, and all who were in the cellar with me, emerged to view the supposed destruction. The little boarding-house wasn't harmed, nor any of the buildings I could see. Apparently they had just skipped over my part of town. I returned to my routine like nothing had happened. I could tell I'd just had a bad experience the first time. With time, I was sure I could get used to pirate raids.
There were rumors surrounding this one, though. People said the pirates had been looking for something specific this time, and that they'd found it. I even heard the name of Elizabeth Swann spoken once or twice. Funny what people would say for the sake of gossip. Too much talking and not enough work was being done, it seemed to me. I decided to go visit the docks.
The docks also were swarming with activity. More officers were visible than I could remember ever having seen all together at once. I sat back and watched the proceedings amusedly, happy for once to not be hard at my work.
Then suddenly I sat erect. All of the Navy crewmen were scrambling frantically, leaving one ship for another. I watched in bewilderment and fascination as two men appeared on the deck of the first ship, and although I had no idea what was going on, I realized the simple cleverness of the two as they readied quickly to sail.
I smiled when the fastest ship in the fleet slipped out of the port, among much commotion from the people left behind. And though my logical side told me that a crime had been committed, suddenly and inexplicably my life began to seem a bit brighter.
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Days passed, and one clear morning I found myself, along with all the other citizens of Port Royal, gathered to witness the execution by hanging of a captured pirate. He was a strange, lonely figure as he stood on the gallows, while his name, Jack Sparrow, and the lengthy list of his crimes were read to the audience. He appeared completely unaffected by the setting, attempting to make small talk with the guard who attended him; but I could tell he was unhappy. He didn't want to die. I found myself feeling sympathy for his plight.
The next few minutes were a blur of activity, and before I knew what was happening, Sparrow was free with a sword in his hand - and beside him fought Will Turner, the blacksmith from nowhere. I was shocked at the way things were developing. So much must have happened that I hadn't known about. Then guards surrounded them, and Will stood shielding Sparrow from their angry swords. I couldn't hear what was being said, and I didn't dare try to get closer. I glanced around me and most of the other civilians had fled in fright. For a split second, I caught a glimpse of Elizabeth Swann next to Will - and then the myriads of guards closed in, blocking my view.
I stood hidden behind a pillar, waiting for something to happen. Then Sparrow's comical figure emerged from the throng, moved to the edge of a parapet, and leaped - or fell, I couldn't tell which - over the edge into the water below. I watched a ship, the most beautiful I had ever seen, reveal itself among the cliffs on the shore; stealing to the edge, I saw the figure of a man climb aboard and the ship turn to leave. I watched the ship until she was no longer visible. There was nothing more to see.
I wandered slowly back to the merchant I was running errands for and back to my own humdrum life. Then, completely out of the blue, one of the customers in the shop spoke to me.
"Terrible business, what with the pirate's escape and all, wouldn't you say?"
I stared at him for a second or two, then threw back my head and laughed.