Obligatory disclaimer: The Mouse owns all, save my own original characters.
A/N: Thank you once again for reading and all your kind words!
James cocked his head to the side, his green eyes narrowing in the darkness. Julia sat beside him, her brows raised in apprehension… and curiosity. Her lips were parted, waiting for his answer, and it took everything in his power not to close the distance between them and kiss her breathless. His heart was racing, his blood singing through his veins. The bench seat underneath him suddenly seemed so far away; it felt like he was soaring past the moss draped branches and up towards the stars. "Did you… did you just ask me to marry you?"
When he phrased the question as such, even Julia was taken aback. What audacity on her part! It took her a moment to contemplate what James asked, but after slowly nodding her head for a few moments, replied, "I suppose I did. Yes."
Julia was so matter-of-fact that James could not help but laugh, a low rippling sound that reminded Julia of the distant thunder of a summer storm… a welcome relief during the heat of the season, but always a possible danger. She shivered as he replied, "Good, for I was about to ask if I could have you like I did the last time I saw you. If that was the case, then the answer would be yes. However, do you know how long I had been preparing my speech to ask you to be my bride?" The indignation in his voice did not sound affected, but Julia was not so certain.
The disappointment in his voice quickly dissipated all her anxiety and a dimple appeared in her cheek as she saucily retorted, "A speech? Whatever did you need a speech for? It is nothing more than a simple question, is it not?"
James closed his eyes in defeat. There was no way he could argue with her question. When Julia posed the question in the manner she did, of course she made it sound asinine that any time was spent practicing the question's delivery. And then she had to go and steal the question away from you. "Apparently, I did not need the speech the speech at all. You are unlike anyone – male or female – I have ever met. Do you know that?"
An eyebrow arched above her blue eyes. "So, are you going to leave me in suspense or are you going to answer?"
A smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. James suddenly had the impulse to by as ornery as possible. Short of taking Julia over his knee – which was more than a little appealing – James wanted to teach Julia some much needed patience. "I think I shall opt for suspense. I must take Cobb back to the house so he can be properly taken care of. Once he is safely in the hands of the authorities, then I will answer your question."
James started to stand, but Julia placed her hand on his forearm, stilling his movement. With a smile, she gently slid the jacket sleeve down his arm and checked on the bandage. No new blood had seeped through the dressing, so Julia nodded her head, "And not a moment before?"
"Not even a second. Now, I think it would only be fair that, seeing how I am now half-dressed, we get you into a similar situation…"
Julia smiled ruefully and pulled the jacket back up his arm, sighing as she did so. She would never admit it, but Julia would like nothing better to lay James back on a bed and cater to any and all needs. Short of that, she wanted to get back to the party as soon as possible so that they could leave as soon as possible. And possibly go back to her home for a more… private conversation. But only if he answered correctly. "Easy there. But what happens if people ask why we were alone out here? I do have a reputation here in the community to uphold."
His laughter was like velvet running up and down her spine. "Then I suppose you should have thought about that before slipping into the darkness. With a man. Alone." James stood, then turned and extended his good arm towards Julia, offering to help her up from the bench.
Narrowing her eyes in vexation, Julia pursed her lips before sighing heavily and accepting the outstretched hand. As she rose, James took a step closer to Julia and brushed his lips across the back of her knuckles. At the sudden intake of her breath, James smiled wickedly up at her across the back of her hand. "James Norrington, you truly are insufferable, you know that?"
Squeezing her hand before letting it go to gather Cobb, James arched a brow and looked at Julia down the length of his nose. "I am going out of my way to be so, so I am glad to know I have succeeded in one attempt this evening." He turned away without further comment.
Watching the tops of his feet as he walked over to his former First Mate, James mulled over the events that had just recently transpired. He laid eyes on Julia for the first time in several months, more beautiful than he remembered. He then told her about his past mistakes and, much to his dismay at the time, was asked for some privacy by Julia so she could absorb his words. Then Cobb appeared in his absence. He and Cobb fought. Julia clobbered him over the head with a rock. He and Julia discussed marriage. Julia asked him to marry her. Now he was going to take Cobb back to the house so that the justice that was expected in the Caribbean could finally be carried out.
If this is how my days will go from now on, I shall never grow tired of her. But I shall also find myself in any early grave, for I am already exhausted. However, I am looking forward to other exhausting pursuits.
James bent over and grabbed Cobb's arms, slinging them over his back. With a grunt, James stood, the unconscious form of Cobb draped across his shoulders. Faltering for a moment, James finally was able to shift Cobb into a more comfortable position to better balance the unconscious man with minimal difficulty.
With a jerk of his chin, James indicated that Julia should follow him back towards the house. "Come. I shall take you back to the party. We have been gone long enough that whispers of your absence will have long since circulated. Let us get back before your reputation is sullied further."
Julia looked horrified as she fell into step beside James. "What? What on earth are you talking about?" People may be talking about me?
Casting her a glance out of the corner of his eyes, James chuckled, low and rumbling. "You cannot truly believe that your absence has gone unnoticed. Not with three marriage proposals offered… no, wait… with yours that makes four–."
If James had not been loaded down by the dead weight of Cobb, Julia would have shoved him in the chest with all her might. "That is not funny! You planned on asking me! And now you will not even be a gentleman and grace me with an answer!"
"You asking me to marry you hardly makes you a lady, so I would be hard pressed to know how I should be expected to act like a gentleman around you. Although, come to think of it, the last time I was around you, I acted not like a gentle man nor you like a lady."
Julia balled her hands into fists and matched her steps to James' stride. For someone carrying such an awkward encumbrance, James was walking remarkably fast. "Fine. I am not a lady. That can certainly not be news to you at this point. But to others, it might be. So, if anyone asks, we slipped out so that you might request my hand in private. And that Cobb came along and you had to… defend my honor.
"But that is not quite how it happened."
Okay, try reasoning with him. "But if the end result is the same, what does it matter?" That was not reasoning, that was whining. And could you have sounded any more pathetic?
Again. the laugh, dancing through the darkness. "Because you asked me. And I want everyone to know that." James paused, shifted Cobb with a painful grunt, and, after a moment, cast Julia another wicked grin. Julia could not ignore the sweat appearing on his forehead or beading on his upper lip; James had to be in a lot of pain.
But Julia stopped in her tracks, watching the retreating back of her companion, indignation coursing through her veins. Even before she could ask the question of whether he would tell everyone or not, Julia already knew the answer. But she had to try… "What? You would not!"
James just scoffed. "Of course I would! After all, I would be the envy of every man in the room… unmarried or not. A beautiful woman turning the tables on me? I will tell anyone and everyone within earshot." James loved he way Julia's eyes darkened from crystalline to indigo, like a thunderstorm riding the evening sky.
"I should not be pleased with what you just said, but I do thank you for the compliment, if one could call it that. In fact, you had to pick the worst time in the known world of worst times for making me want to kiss you. However, I ask you to please keep my… social impropriety between us."
James stopped and turned to face his ward. "Julia, I promise you this – I shall do nothing to embarrass you in the eyes of the community. While I find this evening more amusing, exhausting and emotionally draining, all at the same time, I promise you that what has transpired tonight will go no further than between you and I. However, I shall never turn down a kiss…"
"You will have to wait, for there is the party. Answer correctly later and giving you a kiss might be a distinct possibility."
The house loomed out of the darkness, almost blinding with light spilling forth into the night. The duo was quiet as they trudged the last several feet to the back veranda. Other partygoers, having private moments of conversation or needing a breath of fresh air, were sprinkled across the lawn. When they saw the interesting bundle James carried, all discourse ended until James and Julia walked past.
Each footstep on the porch steps echoed through the night air, blocking out the sounds of the party inside. As Julia and James crossed the threshold into the house, conversations died and people stopped what they were doing to stare. James pretended that he did not notice the looks and whispers, but Julia clung to James's arm, furtively looking from face to face.
A slight chuckle skated past his lips as James pushed Cobb backwards off his shoulders, where the inert man fell to the floor with a dull thud. A quiet groan emitted from the prone man and a collective gasp rippled through the party.
A man pushed through the crowd, fighting to see what was the cause of the intrusion into the festivities he was hosting. Breaking free of the wall of people, the man looked about wildly. Seeing the unconscious man lying in a pile at James and Julia's feet, he turned bright red. "What the Bloody Hell is going on?!"
The silence was deafening as the crowd waited for an answer. Feeling their collective gaze pressing upon her like a heavy weight, Julia stepped forward. "Mister Winthrop–."
Ah, that was the name of the host! James cupped Julia's elbow and interrupted. "Missus Ramage and I were having a private conversation when this man, formerly of my employ, interrupted us and made threats against Missus Ramage's person. Between she and I, we were able to subdue Cobb. I want to press charges."
It took a moment for his word to sink in, but then Mister Winthrop nodded his head incessantly and snapped his fingers repeatedly, servants seeming to appear immediately. "Well, I do not think that will be a problem. Now, what can we do for you?"
James watched as Cobb's body was removed from the room. It is almost as if he is dead rather than unconscious. "I thank you. I mean not to be a nuisance, but I am quite tired. A chair. And a beverage. Please."
A chair was immediately vacated and once the captain was seated, a cup of wassail was presented. James took the beverage with a gentle bob of his head and a quiet, "Thank you."
Everyone watched as James swallowed the liquid down. Then, one of the musicians played a chord and soon, the festivities were back into full swing. The unconscious mystery man was quickly forgotten.
But Mister Winthrop refused to leave James' side, for unknown reasons that James found curious – and mildly amusing. However, Julia swallowed nervously before taking a step forward. "Mister Winthrop, I would like to introduce you to Captain James Norrington. Captain Norrington, please allow me to introduce you to Mister Phillip Winthrop."
Mister Winthrop stepped forward, hand extended. "Captain Norrington, I pleased to make your acquaintance. I must say that I greatly appreciate your help in protecting Julia this evening, although if he was a former employee of yours, I must question your judgment in employees. However, Julia is very dear to me, so if she finds you to be worthy of consideration, than so do I. In fact, you are more than welcome to rest in one of our guest rooms tonight. You look exhausted and it is the least we could do in appreciation for all that you did for dear Missus Ramage."
Before James could reply, Julia slid between the two men and interjected, "I do apologize, but that is unnecessary for James was wounded during the altercation and the injury will need to be stitched to minimize scarring. Captain Norrington shall be escorting me home so I may tend to his injuries. We shall be leaving immediately."
